Wishful Thinking
by Astro-xXx-Boy
Summary: Astro is constantly bullied every day and constantly put down at Metro High, just because he's a robot, and even though he saved the city. When Astro had enough of the bullying, he desperately wished that he were human, not knowing that his wish would come true. But what will happen when the city needs saving? Rated T because I'm paranoid. AstroxCora
1. Wish

**Author's Note:** Well! It's finally up! I'm currently working on chapter 6 for this story, and I won't post the next chapter until I'm finished with that one, and so on so forth. This is a collab story between me and Starwarrior4ever on DeviantART, so we both hope you enjoy it!

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**Chapter 1: Wish**

"Freak!" a boy named Josh taunted, pushing me back. I fell against a locker, falling to the ground in front of it.

I looked up at the bully with glowering eyes.

"You're the freak of the school! An abomination of nature!" he snickered, elbowing one of his buddies.

"Dude, you're like Shakespeare!" one of his buds guffawed. "Is there anything about 'stupid robots' in Hamlet, you think?"

Josh looked at him with blank eyes. "What's Shakespeare?" he asked, and his buddy face-palmed.

I tried to hold back a laugh. However, Josh kicked me in the stomach. "Shut up, stupid robot."

"You know," I wheezed, holding my stomach, "you're not being very nice."

"Why should I be nice to the likes of you?" he growled, glaring down at me. "You're a robot."

"I also saved the city," I grumbled.

"Oh, _you saved the city!"_ Josh laughed again. "We could have done it without you! A soldier could have shot the Blue Core into that Peacekeeper instead of you _heroically_ _'dying' _to save the city!"

"I also saved _your_ sorry butt," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

Josh laughed in my face. "A robot sassing back! Guys! Take a note!" One of his friends actually took out a pad of paper and a pencil to mock me, and I frowned.

"I didn't know your friend knew how to write," I retorted. The guy holding the notebook went red in the face, putting it behind his back.

Josh stormed up to me and clutched the front of my red t-shirt. "Listen here, robot," he hissed. "I don't want you makin' stupid jokes at my buds, got me?" When I didn't answer, he jostled me back and forth. "I said…_got me?"_

I looked away from his glare. "Whatever," I hissed through clenched teeth.

Josh dropped me back on the ground, laughing and walking away to class with his buddies. I picked myself off the ground and dusted myself off. This whole bullying thing was becoming more frequent with every passing day. It had only been a few months since I had saved everyone from the Peacekeeper, and a few months since everyone started treating me like I was nothing. I hadn't seen Cora ever since the battle, and I had thought to myself that maybe her parents were keeping her inside, home-schooling her, because they didn't like me.

_Or because they don't want her out of their sight again…_

I sighed to myself, picking my bag up off the floor, beginning towards my homeroom. No one ever talked to me, besides Josh and his 'helpers'. Besides them, no one ever did. It was like if they talked to me, they'd contract some sort of disease.

Sometimes I really hated being a robot. I mean, all the powers were cool, I guess, but…there was still something missing. I just wasn't…human. _Well, duh,_ I thought. _Robots can't ever be humans… They—_we're_—man-made._ _It's not like we had a choice in the matter, either,_ I thought, kicking at the ground a little as I walked. _But even if I _am_ a robot, I still shouldn't be treated like this,_ I thought, frowning. _I saved them from the Peacekeeper…from Stone…_

Turning a corner, I looked up. A door loomed in front of me with the words 'Mr. Mustachio' written on the door. I looked back down and headed inside, the door opening automatically.

"Sorry I'm late," I mumbled, keeping my head low.

Mustachio smiled. "Actually you're right on time. Have a seat, To—I mean, Astro."

"Okay." I walked to my seat at the back of the class, ignoring the kids that were giving me a weird look. _They always gave me weird looks…_ I thought as I tried keeping my head low, setting my bag next to me on the floor.

I turned on my screen on the desk as Mustachio started the lecture about physics. The screen read, 'Good morning, Toby Tenma'. I sighed. It always scanned your DNA when you sat down and turned it on, and when it said that, it always reminded me that I would never be Toby again.

"Now, who can tell me the answer to _this_ scientific equation?" Mustachio asked, gesturing to the giant screen behind him.

I raised my hand, but one of the students cut me off just as I was about to give the answer.

"That's no fair!" said one of the students. "He's a robot—he's got the answer programmed in him already!"

I put my hand down. "I don't have anything but memories programmed in my brain…?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"No difference!" the student growled. "Your memories are different than our memories—"

"That's enough, Bryan!" Mustachio said sternly. "If you can't say anything nice about your classmates, then don't say anything at all! Got it?"

"Got it…" Bryan said forcefully, and then added in a low whisper, "But it wasn't _my_ choice to have a robot as my classmate…"

It seemed strange to me, but I had just noticed he spoke to me – although in a rude manner. Like I said before, if someone talked to me, it was like they were going to either contract some disease, or just because they want to be mean or rude.

"Astro, would you still like to answer the question?" Mustachio asked, pointing at the screen.

I nodded. "Sure. The answer is 498 kilometers per mile."

"Good job, Astro," he praised.

I looked around the room with a smile on my face as the answer I had given was correct, but I noticed that everyone was whispering to their buddies in hushed voices, like they were talking about me. My smile faded and I slumped back in my seat. Every single day, everyone did this to me. I knew they were talking about me, because when I zoned in onto their conversations, they always seemed to say my name.

_No one respects me at all…_ I thought, looking at my feet. _It's like I was just some house robot given orders that it won't obey._ I sighed, leaning the palm of my hand on the side of my face. _I just wish that they wouldn't hate me so much…_

Hours passed by as I went through my daily school day. Ever since my father had re-enrolled me back at Metro High, it's when it all happened. He went back to work, I went back to school, he didn't have time for me as usual, and whenever I tried to tell him about what happened to me at school, he'd always brush me off to go to bed. It was as if he hated me again, like when I had just learned that I was a robot, programmed with the memories of the real Toby Tenma. I was not who I thought I was, and everything about me was a fluke, some sort of lie.

The last period of the day came up, and I began to dread it. It was gym class, and Josh and all his buddies were in the same class I was. Being the youngest in my school, it wasn't that easy to get along with anyone. The only real people I had gotten along with were Cora and the others back on the Surface, but I haven't seen any of them since the day I had stopped that alien from destroying the city any more than the Peacekeeper had.

As I walked between the double doors that led to the huge gymnasium, I was instantly greeted by Josh and his cronies. "Hey, Astro!" Josh said, smiling. "Guess what we're playing today?"

I looked away from his green stare. "What?"

"Dodgeball!" he laughed snidely. "And I was picked as a team captain. Guess where you're not going? On _this_ guy's team!" he exclaimed, pointing a thumb at his chest. His buddies laughed.

"Good! I wouldn't want to be on your team anyway! You always lose," I remarked, walking past them.

Josh gaped at me, but hurried after me with fire in his eyes. He grabbed me by the shoulders and whipped me around, but I kept my eyes level to the ground. "We always _lose_ because you're a robot! And it's not fair that you have super strength."

"Josh, quit harassing Astro!" the teacher called from across the room. "Go stand in line so I can call role."

Josh growled to himself, turning back to me. "You got off lucky this time, robot." With that, he pushed me away and headed over to the line, followed closely by his two buddies.

After a moment or two, I shrugged and headed over to my usual spot on the line, next to a really tall kid named Chris, and a short girl named Hannibelle. It was always in alphabetical order, so you could guess where I was, right?

"Riley?" the teacher called out.

"Present!"

"Josh?"

"Yo, yo!" he called out, laughing.

The teacher shook his head with a frown, but continued taking roles. I began to zone out, the teacher's voice becoming a background noise that—to me—didn't seem to be there. _What would it take for everyone to actually respect me? _I wondered, looking towards the doors in the distance. _Would I have to do something extraordinary besides what I've already done? Would I have to save someone's life? Maybe the most popular kid in school?_ My eyes lowered to the ground in front of me. _But that would be nearly impossible for him to be in danger. He's always surrounded by a lot of kids, and it wouldn't be easy._ A thought occurred to me and I looked back up at the door. _Maybe I could..._ I swallowed nervously. _Maybe I could..._pretend_ he was in danger and then 'save' him from it?_

"Astro!" the teacher shouted.

I snapped back to the present, shaking my head back and forth. "Here!" I called, raising my hand high.

"Answer when I call your name," he growled, continuing to take role once again.

_Even the teacher hates me..._ I thought, sighing. _Everyone hates me, but why? I didn't even do anything to them... Maybe it's because they fear me? Fear what I can do? Fear that if they don't give me hatred, I'll hurt them? But...that doesn't make any sense..._ My thoughts wandered off again, and I had missed the end of the role call. When I finally realized it, a loud whistle sounded in the room, and my face was instantly greeted by several dodgeballs.

"AHHH!" I shouted, immediately dodging them all. Yet another was thrown at me, and I caught it in my hands, throwing it at someone in front of me. The girl turned around.

"Hey! I'm on _your_ team!" she pouted.

"Friendly?" I chuckled nervously. She harrumphed and ran away from the opposite team's flying projectiles.

The gym battle went on until there was only me and Josh left on the field. He smiled at me evilly, holding up balls in both of his hands. I rolled my eyes. "You honestly think that's gonna get me out?" I snorted, crossing my arms.

"No, but I can try," he replied snottily.

_In your dreams,_ I thought as he chucked the first ball. I dodged it easily, it smacking against the wall behind me and rolling away. "Is that the best you've got?" I asked.

Growling to himself, Josh chucked the other ball at me. It came straight for my head, and I ducked just in time to miss the impact. "Stupid robot!" he muttered, looking around for more balls, but realized that they were all on my side.

"Ooookay! Looks like Astro's team wins," the teacher called.

"Hey! No, no, no! I want him to go down!" Josh whined.

I laughed to myself and turned towards the teacher. "Give him another chance. Who knows? Maybe he'll win."

"But how? All the dodgeballs are on _your_ side, smart one!" Josh hissed.

I scoffed, walking over to each individual ball and kicking it towards the middle. Once they were all in the middle, I kicked them all onto his side. "Have at it," I taunted, crossing my arms.

Josh grabbed a ball, the whites of his knuckles showing through his fists as he gripped the ball tightly. "It's still not fair…" he muttered.

"I'll even do it with my hands tied behind my back!" I replied, gripping my wrist with my other hand behind my back. I motioned my head towards the balls on the ground. "Well? What're you waiting for?"

With an angry shout, Josh threw the first ball at me. I ducked. He threw. I jumped to the right. It went on and on like this for about two minutes, before he was down to one ball. "Any last words, _Astro Boy?"_ he sneered, gripping the ball tightly.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Josh," I sighed, shrugging. "Just get it over with and be humiliated."

"Astro, you're a wimp!" Josh's buddy, Trevyr, shouted from the bench, elbowing his other friend.

Distracted, I was caught off guard by a ball knocking me to the ground. I landed with an "Oof!" Laughter soon erupted in the whole room, and even the teacher was laughing at me.

"You should've seen his face when he was hit!" a girl guffawed. "Priceless!"

"HAHA! 'I'll even do it with my hands tied behind my back', he says!" another boy snorted. "What a loser!"

I frowned, lying there on the ground on my back, watching as everyone just sat there and laughed at me. "Robots are so dumb!" Josh laughed, going over to his buddies.

A tear slid down my cheek as I sat up, looking away from everyone. _Great. I just humiliated myself in front of everyone! _ I thought as I stood up, my head hung low. _Now I'll _never_ be respected as one of them!_

"Awww, is the robot crying?" Josh sneered. "Oh, wait! That's right! They can't cry! It's artificial, like _he is!"_

The laughter erupted louder, and more tears streamed down my face. I couldn't take the pressure, wanting to just run away and never look back. I gave in to my fear, running out the double doors with tears streaming down my face as everyone's laughter trailed with me all the way outside.

I burst into the air, away from the school. I couldn't take it anymore…couldn't take everyone's hatred of me… I needed to get away. Away from it all. Maybe I wasn't cut out for things like this… Maybe school wasn't the right place for me. Maybe I just needed to keep being home-schooled like before… I looked to the left, seeing the sun as it began its afternoon descent into the horizon line down on the Surface.

_Should I go home? …No,_ I thought. _Not right now, anyway._ I just needed to fly right now. Flying helped me calm down, sometimes…

I banked left and zoomed higher into the air, closing my eyes as I felt the wind on my face. I flew up and up, high into the puffy white clouds that slowly drifted over Metro City. Bursting through the middle of one of the clouds, I began to calm down. The feeling of the wispy, wet clouds made me feel so free, like I didn't have a care in the world.

But reality suddenly came rushing back as I looked down at Metro City. The whole city hated me…or _nearly_ the whole city. _Why does being a robot have to be so…difficult?_ I wondered, my eyes wandering over the city. _Why must everyone hate me? Why is it?_ I frowned. _It's not as if saving the city immediately makes everyone hate you. I mean, after I had saved everyone from the Peacekeeper, they were all happy and excited…_ I broke off, sighing.

_It's because I'm so different,_ I realized. _Is it because I'm not…real? Fake? Artificial? Gah, what _is_ it?_ I knocked my knuckles on the sides of my head in frustration. Even my _head_ didn't feel real. It was all fake, like a hoax, some sort of bad dream. _It makes me wish it _were_ a bad dream,_ I thought glumly, looking away from the city. _I just wish…things were different… That everyone would love me for who I was…_ I hung my head with shame, another tear sliding down my cheek.

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I sat on the rooftop curve of my father's apartment building that he owned. He made money off of it by letting other people rent out the rooms below ours in the penthouse at the very top. I sniffled, wiping a tear from my eye. I looked at my hand, the tear wrapping around my finger as I twirled it around to examine it.

_Maybe Josh _was_ right. Are my tears…artificial?_ I wondered, snapping it away, letting it fall off the edge of the building. _But I _do_ have feelings…which no one really understands._

_But no one will ever accept me for who I am…_ I thought, looking up at the night sky and at the stars. _Because…I'm not real…_ I frowned. _I wish I _were_ real!_ I thought, determined. I looked up at a really bright star in the sky, my eyes twinkling from the wetness and the light from the star. _I wish…I were human… Just so people could accept me for who I was…which is one of _them.

The star suddenly flashed a bright blue, and I rose an eyebrow in confusion. _What was that?_ I wondered, standing up and staring at it. _It flashed once, and then it was gone…_

I stared intently at the star, wondering if it would do the same thing again or not. After a few minutes of nothing, I stepped back and scratched the back of my head. "Weird…" I murmured.

"Astro, come inside! It's time for bed!" my father called out to me from the porch down below.

"Coming!" I shouted back, taking one last peek at the star before I floated down to the porch, and inside the room.

Dad was in the living room, and gave me a smile when I entered. "Have a good night's sleep, son," he said.

I paused, swallowing nervously. "Um…Dad?" I asked. "Could…you hire a tutor for me?"

Dad blanched, caught off guard with my question. "What?" he asked, surprised. "Why? What's wrong with your school?"

"It…it's just that…" I broke off and swallowed again, glancing away from his stare. "Well, everyone in school kinda hates me…and—"

"No one hates you!" he replied, laughing.

I stomped my foot in frustration. "YES THEY DO!" I shouted, but then immediately backed down, apologetic. "S-sorry, Dad, it's just… No one talks to me. They avoid me, and if they _do_ say something to me, it's in a rude way, and I'm being constantly bullied by Josh and his cronies…"

"Bullied?" he blanched, blinking his eyes. "Why would anyone bully you? You're the hero of Metro City!"

"I'm also a robot, and a lot of them _hate_ me because of it!" I argued, my eyes blazing. As he stared at me with a dark expression, I sighed. "I-I'm sorry… I'll just go to bed now…" Without another word, I hurried up to my room, ignoring the sounds of utter disbelief coming from my father's mouth.

This was exactly why I didn't usually come to him in the first place. He just didn't _understand_ these things. I sighed to myself as I took off my shirt and pants from the day and climbed into bed. Through the window, I saw some clouds begin to block the starry sky from my view. I sighed, closing my eyes for the night.

A strange feeling suddenly entered my chest…a _warm_ feeling…but it had vanished almost as soon as it came as I slowly fell asleep.

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**Author's Note:** Well? What did you think? I think this chapter was pretty informal...don't you? Leave reviews! Faves and follows would be much appreciated. I love to see people enjoying my stories. :3


	2. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Chapter 2:** **Be Careful What You Wish For**

My eyes blinked open to the sunlight shining through my window and onto my face. I dreaded getting up and going to school that day, especially now since my dad didn't believe me about the whole 'bullying' problem I had…

I groaned to myself, kicking the covers off, and hopping out of the bed, my feet landing on the floor of my room. I got to my feet and shuffled across the floor towards my closet. Or at least, that was what I _meant_ to do, until I tripped over my feet and landed on my face. Pain shot through my nose as it smashed into the ground, making me yelp. My eyes watered as I put a hand to my stinging nose. "Ow!" I shouted, rubbing my nose. Wait…why did that hurt?

I mean, I _was_ programmed to feel pain, but…somehow this felt different. It hurt…_more?_ Less? I struggled to my feet and shrugged it off, continuing to rub my aching nose. I would probably figure it out sooner or later.

I threw a blue t-shirt and some jeans on, yanking on my light blue jacket, and walked out of my room to the dining room where my father was eating breakfast. "Morning, Dad," I greeted while sighing, sitting down at my usual spot at the table. And as usual, he didn't even acknowledge my presence in the morning. I looked over as I saw Orrin rolling over to me with a plate in his hands.

A pang of dread hit me as I realized something. This was just like what happened with Toby…wasn't it? Hardly ever getting any attention from Dad, everyone hating you at school because you were different… Well, in Toby's case, it was because he was smarter than everyone else.

I sighed as Orrin set the food down in front of me. "Is something the matter, Astro?" Orrin asked politely.

"N-no, nothing's wrong…" I said, looking at the pancakes in front of me.

Orrin cocked his head, squinting his eyes at me. "Er…wait a moment…" He tapped his metal head in confusion. "That can't be right…"

I looked back up at him. "What?"

Orrin blinked again. "Er…I might need to have my circuits checked again…"

"Why?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

He hesitated a moment before waving his hand in front of him. "Nah, I'm pretty sure it's nothing."

"Okay, then…" I replied, before turning back to the food in front of me. As I took a bite of the pancakes, I realized that I could actually taste it. Of course, I was programmed to taste food, but it felt…different. It was like…I don't know. I took another bite before nearly spitting it out in surprise.

Dad looked up, alarmed. "What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

I swallowed, feeling the inside of my mouth. "Did you…program me with saliva?" I asked.

"Um…yes? But it's technically artificial saliva… Why? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Um…nothing, I guess," I mumbled. "It's just…it… The pancakes taste… Never mind." I went back to my food, ignoring the look of bewilderment my dad gave me.

"They taste…?" my father echoed, bewildered.

I looked up from the corner of my eye, sticking another mouthful in my mouth. I shrugged. "I dunno. Different, I guess?" I shook my head. "Maybe it's just me…"

"How do they taste different?" my dad asked.

I frowned, trying to think of an answer. "Um…I really don't know…" I shook my head again and swallowed the pancakes. "Just ignore me, I'm confusing myself right now."

With a raised eyebrow, my father stood up from the table. "Alright… Well, er, I'm going to work now." He glanced over at Orrin, who emerged from the kitchen. "Take Astro to school, would you?"

"Of course, Bill," Orrin said, smiling. He looked at me, about to say something, but then zoomed backwards screaming.

I rose an eyebrow. _What…?_ I wondered. _Why was he…screaming? And at me? Did I scare him or something?_ I looked at myself all over as quickly as I could, trying to notice anything out of place, but couldn't. I shrugged, quickly finishing my pancakes and hurrying back up to my room. I hopped into the bathroom to brush my teeth – because I had just eaten breakfast, and I didn't want my breath to smell like pancakes for the rest of the day.

I finished brushing my teeth and went back to the dining room to find Orrin and my dad talking to each other.

"A check-up would definitely be a good idea for you then, Orrin," said Dad, rubbing his chin. "That is some serious malfunctioning."

"What? What's wrong with Orrin?" I asked, concerned.

They both turned towards me, and almost instantly, Orrin tore into the kitchen screaming with his hands in the air.

I stared at the kitchen door Orrin had just run through, an eyebrow arching up my face. "Um…what's wrong with Orrin?" I asked again.

Dad sighed. "He…seems to have a malfunction in his system," he answered. "I believe it's something to do with his memory card. It's effecting what he's seeing now… He claims he sees you as partly human."

"Huh?" I blurted, my face contorted into a confused and surprised look. "That's _definitely_ a malfunction."

"Exactly," Dad said. "I'll have to bring him in… Er, you go ahead and go to school, then. I'll bring Orrin to the Ministry of Science to get him looked over."

"Kay, Dad," I replied, hurrying out of the dining room and into the living room, out to the porch, and lifting off.

Charging into the air, my bright blue flames trailing after me, I couldn't help but look back into the house. _I hope he gets fixed…_ I thought, returning my gaze back to the front of me. _I don't want him going around thinking I'm part human…because I'm not, and I'll never be._

My jets suddenly sputtered, making me wobble in the air. "Gah!" I cried, trying to balance myself. "What the heck—?" My rockets caught fire again, and I was able to correct myself once more. I looked back at them, confused. _What just happened?_

A few moments later, I arrived at the front door to Metro High. Landing on the pavement, I planted a smile on my face and walked through the double doors.

That smile vanished when I saw Josh standing there, arms crossed, with his buddies standing behind him.

"Hey, _Astro,"_ he sneered. "Where'd you run off to yesterday?"

"Uh…I…um…" I stuttered. "Um… N-nowhere. It's none of your business."

"Did you run back to your daddy?" he laughed. "You seemed pretty embarrassed yesterday in gym!"

I scowled at Josh, and then lowered my gaze. "Whatever you say…" I grumbled, walking past the bullies.

Josh looked after me, and then jutted out his arm in front of me, jarring me in the chest. "Don't _ever_ walk past me again, robot," he hissed, pointing a threatening finger in my face.

I glanced up at him. "What else am I supposed to do, _swim_ past you?" I asked.

With a growl, Josh pushed me back forcefully, and I fell backwards into a trashcan. Both Josh and his buddies began laughing as they walked away to class. I frowned, beginning to stand back up. "Ow…!" I hissed, looking down at my arm. A sharp pain came from my elbow, and I looked down at it in confusion.

I pulled up my sleeve, wondering what was causing the pain. I did a double-take, staring at my arm. Right above my elbow was a faint, purple-blue mark. _A stain?_ I thought, rubbing the mark, but pulled my hand back when it started hurting more.

"What a minute…" I mumbled. "Is this…?" I shook my head, brushing off my pants and jacket. _It can't be. I'm just being paranoid._

I ran to my first class and tried to concentrate, but that mark on my arm kept bothering me. _What if it's…a bruise?_ I asked myself, entering my homeroom. _Don't be ridiculous, robots can't get bruises!_ I thought, sitting down.

A few moments passed, and Mr. Mustachio appeared from his closet over to the side of the room, next to the board screen. "Hello, students! Are you ready for that pop quiz I was mentioning a while ago?" The whole class erupted in a series of moans and complaints. Mustachio chuckled. "I thought you might be," he said cheerfully.

Turning to the screen board, he smiled. "Here's the picture I want all of you to examine. Now you'll find the questions on your holo-desks." A picture popped up on the screen, showing a band of robots and a band of humans with guns and swords. I looked down at my desk, the first question popping up, and I smiled. This was going to be a piece of cake!

"Begin!" Mustachio exclaimed.

I raced through the questions at lightning speed, and I had almost finished when suddenly my nose began to feel weird. I stopped, blinking, rubbing my nose. But the feeling continued, growing stronger. "A-A-ACHOO!" I sneezed.

Had I just _sneezed?!_

"Bless you, Astro," Mustachio said.

I smiled, but then frowned, rubbing my nose again. What was _going on?!_

I finished my quiz without any more problems and turned in my USB card. "Thank you," said Mustachio. "Please return to your seat, Astro." I nodded and went back to my chair, sitting down. But I'd accidentally bumped that purple mark on my arm against my desk, and I gave a sharp hiss of pain.

"Oww…!" I hissed, holding onto my arm. _Okay, something is _seriously_ wrong._

I rubbed the sore part of my arm, my mind racing. _Should I excuse myself and go see Dad? No, he'd be busy…but what if I'm infected with some sort of computer virus? What if _that's_ what's making me sore, or making the food I ate taste weird…?_

My mind was racing in thought, and I looked around the room rapidly. Everyone was busy working on their quizzes and being silent. Suddenly, my head began spinning and throbbing in pain.

_VIRUS!_ my mind seemed to shout, and my arm instantly flew up into the air.

Mustachio looked surprised, but called on me. "Yes, Astro?" he asked.

"I gotta, uh…go to the bathroom!" I called. Despite my panicked mode, everyone began snickering to themselves.

"Um…robots don't have to—"

"I can and I do," I remarked, becoming slightly embarrassed.

"Really?" a girl on my left asked. "But you don't eat!"

"Actually, I do," I retorted, and then turned back to the teacher. "So can I go?"

"Er, yes," Mustachio said. "Go ahead."

I got up and ran out of the classroom, ignoring the sniggering behind me. Hurrying down the hallway, going past the bathrooms, I raced for the front doors. Just as I was about to burst from the building, Josh, Trevyr, and his other buddy, Nathan, blocked my escape.

"Where d'you think _you're_ going?" Josh sneered.

I gulped. "I gotta go somewhere real fast—"

"No, you don't!" Josh ordered, looming over me, his buddies behind him. "In fact, I think you have a scheduled meeting with us, don't he, guys?"

"It's 'doesn't he', Josh," Nathan muttered. Josh gave him a burning stare, making Nathan wilt under it.

"Whatever…!" he growled. "Don't correct me!"

I rose an eyebrow, looking past the three dunderheads and outside. Josh blocked my view once again. "Don't be lookin' outside, robot. You ain't goin' nowhere!"

"But this is important—"

Josh swung his arm into my stomach, cutting me off. Pain rocketed through my stomach, making me drop to the ground, wheezing and coughing. "Owww!" I groaned in pain. Yup, definitely a virus. Something that made me feel pain worse than I already could.

"Dude, I think he's getting wimpier than usual," Trevyr said, grinning, cracking his knuckles.

Josh laughed. "My thoughts exactly," he said. "Wassa matter, robot boy? You gonna go home and cry now like you did yesterday? Are ya?"

"N-no," I wheezed. "It's…none of your business where I'm going…"

Josh and his buddies began laughing. "You just don't get it yet, do you?" he scoffed, picking me up by the front of my hoodie. "You're a _robot._ You can't tell us what to do, or what _not_ to do!"

I glared at Josh as hard as I could. "Josh…don't make me call the principal," I threatened.

"Oooh! The _principal!"_ he sneered. "I'm _sooo_ scared!"

"Josh, just please let me go so—"

"So _what?"_ Josh dropped me to the ground, my skull banging against the hard floor, rattling my insides very painfully.

"So I can…tell my dad…about something important!" I breathed out, holding the back of my head painfully.

"Which _is?"_ Josh kicked me in the stomach. Hard. I wheezed, the breath knocked out of my lungs. Wait—my breath wasn't _supposed_ to be knocked out of my lungs… I didn't even _have_ any! I tried to suck in my breath, but Trevyr kicked me hard in the shoulder, pain shooting up from there as well.

"Stop hitting me!" I shouted.

"Aw, the little baby robot boy's in pain!" Josh laughed.

"I don't think he _should_ be in that much pain…" Nathan murmured, watching with his hand on his chin.

Trevyr looked down at me questioningly. "Dude," he said, "maybe that's why he was going to his dad? He's feeling more pain than usual, or something."

"Oh, good." Josh cracked his knuckles together. "All the more fun for us, then."

"Is he broken or something?" Nathan wondered out loud, looking away for a moment.

Kicking me again in the stomach, Josh laughed as I grunted in pain, my eyes squeezing shut. _If this keeps up, I don't think I can even get anywhere!_

I tried getting up, but Josh kicked me again, this time in the face. My head exploded with pain, and I saw stars burst beneath my eyelids. Something warm and salty rushed into my mouth, and I spit it out, blinking open my eyelids.

"D-dude, is that…?" Nathan spluttered, eyes wide. "Is that _blood?!"_

"Dude, this is too freaky for me!" Trevyr shouted, running away from Josh, with Nathan trailing after him down the hall.

"Come back, cowards!" Josh yelled angrily after them, but they were already gone. He turned back to me, fire blazing in his eyes. "I don't care if there's something wrong with you. You aren't getting away with this again!"

And with that, he took off after his buddies.

I sat there, staring at the red liquid on the floor. I'd hardly heard Josh run away. I was too focused on the blood in front of me. That warm, weird feeling I'd felt last night suddenly crept into my chest again, but this time…I thought I felt something else. A beat. I went rigid and clutched my chest, scooting closer to the wall for support. Another beat. It wasn't like that heart-racing feeling that I got sometimes when I was excited, or something… This wasn't artificial. Not fake… It felt like a real…_heartbeat._

Flustered, I took off my hoodie as quickly as I could and lifted up my shirt. I pressed down on my chest where my hatch was supposed to be for the Blue Core.

Nothing happened.

I tried again. Nothing. I banged on my chest, half out of panic and half out of frustration, but still nothing happened.

_What is _happening_ to me?!_ I wanted to scream. I got to my feet and rushed out of the doors of the school, jumping into the air…only to fall flat on my nose instead of lifting into the air on my rockets.

_What the heck?!_ my head shouted. I kicked at my boots, becoming slightly paranoid, but nothing happened. I stomped on the ground, hoping that they would kick on randomly, but they didn't.

"Not good, not good, not good," I said in a strangled voice. I had to get to the Ministry of Science! Not only was I feeling pain, my rockets – and most likely my other weapons – had been disabled as well! I grabbed the sides of my head in frustration. "What am I gonna _dooo?!"_ I nearly shouted, squinting my eyes shut and trying to think of a plan.

Wait, _duh,_ I would use a phone! I would _call_ Dad! Why hadn't I thought of this before? I quickly ran back inside the school and to the principal's office.

I burst through the office door, startling a few of the attendants that sat at the front desk. "Oh, why hello, Astro!" an attendant greeted, smiling.

I stood there, panting for breath while holding the door open. "Can I…use the phone?" I panted.

"Certainly!" she replied.

I hurried over to the holo-phone and punched in my dad's number, hoping he'd answer. After a few rings, my father's face appeared.

"Astro?" he asked, surprised. "Wha—? Why are you calling me? I'm very busy at the moment—"

"Dad, no, this is an emergency!" I said. "I—" I looked around to the other attendants, who were staring back at me. I frowned at them, and they turned away nonchalantly. I turned back to my father, who had a look of impatience on his face. "I…feel pain."

"…What?" Dad asked, confused.

"I know you programmed me to feel pain like a human," I continued. "But lately it's been getting…_worse_ somehow. I even got—I even got a bruise!" I pulled up my sleeve to show him the purple mark on my arm.

Dad rolled his eyes. "Astro, this is no time for a prank call—"

"This isn't a prank, Dad!" I shouted, frustrated. "My rocket boots won't work, I can't open my hatch… I think I might have some sort of virus! Could you just _scan_ me, or something? Just to prove it to you if I'm lying or not?!"

He sighed, lying the palm of his hand on his face. "I seriously don't have time for this right now, Astro. Maybe later tonight, I'll take you—"

"No, please, Dad!" I begged. "I even spat up _blood!_ How can I have _blood_ when I'm not _REAL?!"_

"Astro, you're real to me, okay? Just—I have work to do, son. I'll see you at home."

"Dad, no, wait—!"

_Click._

My Dad's hologram disappeared, and I growled, frustrated. I knew the attendants were staring at me, but I ignored them as I ran out of the office. So now Dad thought I was a liar. A liar just trying to get attention… I breathed heavily out of my nose, kicking at the ground in frustration. No one _ever_ listened to me! It was as if I were some laughing stock. Just some kid crying wolf.

I rubbed my spiked head, angry. Was it just because I was a _rob—_ I stopped that thought, my hand still poised on my hair…no, _in_ my hair! I had…actual _hair!_

_Wh-what's going on?_ I thought, that beating feeling in my chest becoming faster. _What is _happening_ to me?!_

I ran to the bathroom, pushing open the door and running to the mirror. My spikes…they were looking more frayed than usual. More like…_hair._ I started rubbing my head, and to my shock, the spikes became undone. I stared at my reflection, at my now messy hair.

After a few moments of staring wide-eyed at myself in the mirror, I let it all out. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, running back out of the bathroom, down the hallways and back out the door, all the while screaming.

I ran out of the school and onto the sidewalk, no longer screaming. I kept on running and running, further away from the school, my mind going haywire with wild thoughts. _What kind of virus is this?!_ my mind shouted. _What is it _doing_ to me?! Making me have bruises? Bleed? Have actual _hair?!_ Not to mention the weird feeling in my chest!_

The feeling in my chest was pumping hard, and my sides suddenly started aching. I slowed down, putting a hand to my side. Was this a…cramp? Was I cramping up? After such a short jog? _Things just keep getting worse and worse,_ I thought, beads of sweat rolling down my face. I wiped at my forehead and looked down at my hand. _Yup, definitely worse!_

I looked up from my hand and towards the distance, glancing across the city towards the Ministry of Science. I sighed. _Running is harder than it looks…_ I thought as I began my jog once more towards the building. I would tell my father everything that's happened, and he would _have_ to give me a scan!

Waving through the many people and robots walking and rolling down the sidewalk, I hurried as fast as I could manage towards my father's work.

After what seemed like an hour – though in reality, it was probably only _half_ that – I reached the Ministry and hurried as fast as I could up the steps. I puffed and wheezed as I made it to the glass doors that led to the inside of the building. As the double doors slid open, I tumbled inside, falling flat on my face, breathing heavily and trying to calm my breathing.

"Who's that kid?" a scientist asked, hurrying over to me. Soon, I was surrounded by about a dozen or so scientists that worked there at the Ministry, them trying to see who I was. One of them even turned me over. My eyes were shut as I tried to catch my breath, because I was afraid if I opened them, the whole room would start spinning.

"Hey, that's Astro!" one scientist exclaimed.

"That's not Astro, that's a kid!"

"Whaddaya mean it's a kid? That's _totally_ Astro!"

"But robots don't have scratches like he does. Look at his cheek—he's got a scratch! And I don't think Astro's hair could do that."

I blinked open my eyes to see the dozens of faces that surrounded me. Startled just a smidge, my eyes widened and I shot to my feet. "GAH!" I shouted.

"Hey, kid, don't rush yourself," one of them said. "What's the matter?"

"I…need to see my dad," I said breathlessly. "It's important!"

"Okay…what's your name?" the man asked.

I stared at him, blinking. "Um…Astro?"

The man's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, oh, right, sorry. He's in his office," he answered, motioning the way.

"Uh…thanks," I said, walking towards the elevator. _Like he needs to tell me where to go? I already know where his office is…_

I pressed the button and the elevator doors swung open, and I stepped inside. As the elevator rose, I leaned against the wall, my hand rubbing my head again, but immediately stopped when I felt my hair move around more. I had to get scanned—Dad couldn't ignore _this…_or that scratch on my cheek that that one person had pointed out. I put a hand to my cheek, feeling the scratch. How had I gotten it? _Maybe it was when I tried to fly but ended up falling over instead?_ I thought.

The elevator came to a stop, and I exited the small room, hurrying down the hallway and around the corner. My dad's office door loomed in front of me, and I grabbed the doorknob.

"…Nonsense, Orrin! Astro is _not_ part human!"

I paused and rose an eyebrow. They were talking about me. Slowly letting my hand off of the knob, I leaned in to listen through the door, since my super-hearing didn't want to seem to work anymore.

"Yes, he is! I saw it!" Orrin exclaimed. "But you won't listen to me."

"True, you _did_ have nothing wrong with your circuitry, but I won't have it!" Dad replied. "It's impossible, and it couldn't ever happen."

"But—there's someone by the door," Orrin suddenly said. I gave a little sigh and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Dad called.

Slowly opening the door, I heard a gasp of shock from Orrin. "It's TOBY!" he exclaimed, pointing at me.

I froze, blinking in surprise. "Huh?" I asked, staring at Orrin – who was freaking out.

"But you're dead, you're dead, you're _SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"_ Orrin screeched, waving his arms in the air and rolling around in circles.

"But…I'm not…Toby…?" I replied, confused, watching Orrin roll around my dad's office screaming.

Dad was staring at me, face pale with shock. "Toby…?" he breathed.

I shook my head. "No, I'm Astro," I said. "I-I _told_ you I had some sort of virus, Dad! It's doing things to me—I told you what they were before! You need to scan me and get rid of it before it gets worse!" I cried.

Dad blinked. "O-of course, son," he said. "Just… I've never seen any sort of virus do _that."_

"Neither have I," I mumbled.

"Um…c-come with me to the lab," Dad stammered, still shocked. He turned for a door at the back of his office, and after a slight hesitation, I followed after him.

Orrin was still rolling around in shock, his hands on his head, mumbling, "This isn't happening…this isn't happening…!"

We walked down a hall to the lab, the place that I recognized where I was built. "Take off your shirt and hop onto that table, Astro," my dad said, walking to the computer.

I did what he said and took off my shirt. I shivered in the cool air of the lab, goosebumps crawling up my arms. Oh, great. I had _goosebumps_ now?!

Hopping up onto the table, Dad turned back to me. "Now, lie down," he instructed.

I did as I was told, lying down on the cold lab table, causing me to shiver some more. An arm extended over the top of me with an elongated scanner latched onto the arm. It lit up, and I squinted in the harsh light.

A few moments after it began scanning me, Dad gave a strangled yelp, staring at the computer screen. I whipped my head to him, seeing his shocked face. "What's wrong, Dad?" I asked quickly. "What is it?"

"You…you…" Dad slowly looked away from the screen. "O-Orrin was right… You're…you're _part human!"_

_"WHAT?!"_ I couldn't help but shout, sitting up on the table. "Th-that's impossible! The laws of physics—"

"Well, if you don't believe me, come and see for yourself!" he said, exasperated.

I jumped off the table and ran to the computer, seeing the image for myself. I gasped, staring at what I saw. A human skull, muscles around it, and the rest of my body… The metal skeleton in my chest was fading into white when it reached my arms and head. I stared at the center of my chest, where beneath the plates, there was a heart-shaped organ. I slowly put a hand to my chest, eyes wide. "Where…?" I slowly began, swallowing. "Where did the…Blue Core go…?"

"According to the readings here," Dad said, still a little in shock, "the Blue Core is still there…but its signal has faded considerably. My guess is that it's dissolved."

_"Dissolved?!"_ I clutched my chest, still shocked. "Wh-what do you mean dissolved? Is that good or bad?"

"At present…I don't know." Dad shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know how on earth you're turning into a _human_ for that matter!"

An idea occurred to me, and I snapped my fingers. "Last night! I was sitting up on the roof and I wished that I was human!"

Dad looked at me strangely. "What?" he asked bluntly.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "I kind of…made a wish…and then one of the stars sort of flashed bright blue, or something. I don't know…"

"Flashed bright blue?" he echoed, frowning. "That…" He broke off suddenly, turning back to the computer screen. I looked at the screen and watched as he brought up a ton of files, and then one picture in particular. It intrigued me, really. It was a picture of a comet that was covered in ice, and some sort of light blue liquid. "Was this what you saw?" he asked, turning back to me.

"I-I don't know!" I said. "I thought I was just looking at a star! I wasn't looking at it closely or anything!" I replied, rubbing my head.

He sighed and turned back to the screen. "This is Erudi's Comet," he explained. "It was discovered in 2109 by Thomas Erudi. He had claimed that the comet had granted his wish to be cured of his disease, and it cured him!"

"That's a dumb wish," I laughed.

"Ah, but it wasn't. You see, that disease was _incurable._ Without wishing upon that star that he had seen, he would've died a few months later."

I thought about that for a few moments, deep in thought. "Um…but…if that _is_ what's turning me into a human…and cured that guy's disease…how is it doing it in the first place?" I wondered.

Dad turned back to me. "Good question. No one really knows. It's not like we can catch the comet and explore it. It goes way too fast, even faster than we could ever hope to achieve."

"Why haven't I heard about it, either?" I asked.

"It was kept a secret from the public," he explained. "The government thought the guy was nuts. They never spoke of it to anyone."

"Yeah…nuts…" I looked back at the computer screen, to my scanned form down at the bottom of it. "Bet you don't believe _that_ anymore, right? That the guy was crazy?"

"I'm not sure if I'm going crazy myself," Dad replied.

"But the proof is in front of you, Dad! Both on the screen and right here!" I said, pointing at myself.

Dad raised his hands in surrender. "I know, son, I know…but this is something we're going to have to keep between you and I."

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"I _mean_ that who is going to believe us when we say you've been turned into a human?" Dad asked. "And even if they do, you'd be targeted more than ever now that you're human and can easily be killed."

"Oh…" I murmured. "But…what do we say, then? I can't exactly save everyone like _this."_

"Good point. We can say that you're Toby," Dad replied. "That you're my human son, Toby, who has somehow come back, and I'll get Elefun to help me work on a battle suit for you, so you can continue being 'Astro Boy'."

"So…I—Astro—will no longer exist?" I asked.

Dad shook his head. "Not to anyone but Elefun, Orrin, and I. No one else can know, okay?"

I looked away for a moment. _What if I somehow found Cora again? And all the others? Do I say that I'm Toby and that Astro is dead? But how would that make them feel? How would they react? …They'd be devastated…_ "So…what are you going to say happened to me? To Astro, I mean," I asked.

Dad rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Well, we can say that you got infected by a serious computer virus that destroyed all your microchips and 'Astro' is now completely un-savable, because I couldn't fix him in time," he said. "Sounds like a rather sad ending, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment."

I sighed. "It _is_ a rather sad story…" I murmured, looking at the ground. "But it has to be done, I guess…" I walked over to the table and grabbed my shirt, pulling it on. I turned back to Dad. "How is…_Toby_ going to come back?" I asked.

"Hmmm…" he hummed, rubbing his chin. "I could say that Toby was actually absorbed into the Peacekeeper, and once the Peacekeeper was destroyed by you – Astro – that he was still alive. Just like when Stone was absorbed into the Peacekeeper, he was still alive, was he not?"

I nodded. "Yeah! That sounds like a good idea. And maybe you could say that Toby was secretly staying at our place while he recuperated himself?"

"No, that won't do," he sighed. "I know – and _you_ know – for a fact that Toby would try to call for help if he were in trouble… He wouldn't stay anywhere in secret. No, how about we say he was found somewhere in the Ministry of Science, and that he was in a coma? But he woke up."

"Okay, but where would he be found?" I wondered.

"Maybe in an air duct, or something," Dad replied. "Somewhere out of sight."

I rubbed my chin in thought. "Yeah, that could work! I think it's a good plan, Dad."

With a smile, my father rushed over to me and hugged me at my level. "I'm so happy, son," he whispered, beginning to cry. "I'm so happy I have a human son again. I never want to let you go."

"Gah—Dad—humans have to breathe!" I wheezed.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, pushing me outward to arm level. "I'm just so happy."

I smiled at my dad. "Me too."

* * *

**Author's Note:** *le gasp* Astro's a human! :o Ahmagerd! I can't even believe it, and _I_ wrote it! Like I said before, I'm always going to stay one step ahead of you guys. So once I finish chapter 7, chapter 3 will be posted. :3 Review!


	3. A False Identity

**Chapter 3: A False Identity **

The day I went back to school was kind of…let's just say _interesting._ I'd been gone around two weeks, everyone in Metro City having been told 'Astro Boy' had fallen victim to a deadly computer virus, and then around a week later, 'Toby' miraculously appeared. I still thought some more time should have been put in-between the two events, just so people wouldn't be suspicious, but it was as long as Dad could give me to hide out in the penthouse without people finding out sooner or later.

The morning of my return to school, I sighed, getting up and out of bed, stretching my muscles. I was still trying to get used to the whole 'human' things, and let's just say the bathroom trips were…weird.

I got dressed and – after a moment's hesitation – ran a comb through my hair and left it the way it was. _No more spikes,_ I thought. _It would be a good new start…_ I stared at my reflection at my non-gelled hair. "Oh, forget it," I muttered, grabbing the gel and squeezing it in my hands. "I look stupid without it." Soon after, my hair was back in their original two spikes. I smiled at my reflection. _That's better,_ I thought.

Grabbing my toothbrush – after washing my hands – I began brushing my teeth. It felt weird brushing actual teeth, but it had to be done. No if's, and's or but's about it. I finished up brushing and rinsed, and then walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and to the hallway that led to the dining room.

"Good morning, son," Dad greeted me with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess," I remarked, sitting down at a chair and waiting for Orrin to bring my breakfast.

Dad smiled. "Good," he replied.

I smiled back at him, a plate suddenly appearing in front of me. I turned to look to see Orrin trembling next to me. "Good morning, A-Astro," he greeted shakily.

"Hi, Orrin," I said, before digging into my eggs and bacon.

"Orrin, now remember what I reminded you last night," Dad said sternly. "If anyone besides Elefun and I are seen with Astro, you are to call him _Toby._ Alright?"

"Y-yes, Bill," Orrin stammered. "I remember crystal clearly!" He zoomed away from the table and back into the kitchen, muttering on about how freaked out he still was.

As I bit into my food, I savored at how good it tasted. You see, with being a robot, you _did_ have taste buds, but they were artificial, and so were the flavors that came along with it. And let me tell you—artificial definitely did _not_ taste as good as the real thing. Before long, I had finished my eggs and bacon, and Dad was getting ready to leave.

"Have a good day at school, son," he said, walking out the door.

"Hopefully…" I muttered, imagining Josh's face. He'd even picked on Toby when he was still alive, so I wasn't real intent on going back to school. I'd asked Dad about that tutor again, but he said to just try school out one more time as Toby, and if things went well, I would stay, and if things _didn't_ go well, _then_ he would see about me getting a tutor.

As I hurried out the door, Orrin followed after me shakily, keys in hand. "You ready for school, Astro?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Meh, not really, but beggars can't be choosers," I replied, hopping into the backseat of the limo and popping a quick breath mint into my mouth.

Orrin started the car, and it rose up into the air. Soon, we were on our way to school. I gazed out the window at the cars that were flying by, and the tall buildings that we passed. Before long, we'd arrived at my school, and I nervously got out of the car.

"Have a good day, As—I mean, Toby," Orrin said, quickly correcting himself as he looked around at the other kids who were also arriving at the school.

"Kay, Orrin," I said, closing the door and watching as he drove away. I turned around and looked up at the sign for the school, the letters big and noticeable. Forcing another smile on my face, I began my climb up the steps. No one really noticed me at first, but as soon as I walked in the school…

"Hey, it's _Astro!"_ Josh sneered, cracking his knuckles.

"I'm not Astro," I told him. "My name's Toby. Didn't you see the news?" I asked.

Josh froze. "You're lyin'," he growled. "You're just trying to get out of—"

"Dude, he's telling the truth." Nathan walked up to us. "I saw the news. Astro kind of died. He got a virus or something. That's Toby Tenma—the kid he was based off of."

I gave a little wave before walking into the school, away from a very befuddled Josh. _That was almost_ too_ easy,_ I thought, turning my head slightly and adjusting my bag on my shoulder. I turned down a hallway and headed towards my locker. I haven't used it ever since, because only Toby had ever used it, so since I was Toby now…why not?

I arrived at my locker, putting my bag inside and taking my physics book out.

"Astro?" a voice behind me squeaked.

I sighed, still facing my open locker. "My _name_ is _Toby,"_ I said. "I'm not—" I'd turned around to face the speaker, and jumped when I realized who it was.

Cora.

My eyes widened. _Uh-oh…_

"Oh, um…I'm sorry…" she sighed. "I thought you were someone else…"

"C—you're Cora?" I asked, almost slipping up.

She nodded. "Yeah… I almost forgot on the news you were alive," she said sadly. "For a moment, I thought…I thought…" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I've got to go." She hurried away, putting a hand to her face.

I looked after her sadly. _Wow, she's really…devastated about this…_ I thought, sighing and turning back to my locker. _I wish I could tell her. I wish I could, I really do! But sadly, Dad said I couldn't tell anyone…_ I slammed my locker shut, and punched it, ignoring the pain that came with it.

Well, I _tried_ to ignore it, anyway. I slowly brought my hand back, my eyes popping out a little. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" I shook my hand back and forth. Sometimes I _really_ hated pain.

Still waving my hand through the air, I turned and walked in the opposite direction Cora traveled towards. _I hope I have at least one class with her,_ I thought as I entered Mustachio's room.

"Hello, Ast—I mean, Toby," Mustachio greeted.

I smiled at him and took my usual seat in the back, waiting for the rest of the classroom to fill with students. The ones that were already there kept turning around in their seats to look at me, but I tried my best to ignore them.

"Hey, wait a minute, aren't you Astro?" a boy asked me from my left.

"Before everyone starts asking, my name's _Toby,_ not Astro," I replied, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Wait—Toby _Tenma?"_ the girl to my right cried. "I thought you DIED!"

"No, I…I got absorbed into the Peacekeeper, but then I got released and trapped somewhere," I said. "Not to mention the fact I was in a coma the whole time…"

"Whoa, lucky!" another girl breathed from in front of me.

Soon, everyone was surrounding me, asking me questions about how I had survived. But Mustachio's daily morning greeting soon quieted everyone down. "Hello, students!" he began, clapping his hands together. "Today, we welcome back Toby Tenma, who bravely fought to stay alive while the Peacekeeper rampaged, and we also mourn the loss of our dear hero of Metro City."

"I wish I would've been nicer to him," the boy to my left sighed. "Maybe _we're_ the reason he got that virus…"

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He…wanted to be nicer to me?

"Now, please take your seats," said Mustachio, "and we'll begin our class."

The students slowly took their seats, and class begun. I tried my best not to show off, but sometimes when no one else could come up with an answer, I would slowly raise my hand and give the answer. Finally, the first class of the day ended, and the students gathered up their things and left Mustachio's classroom.

"You sure know your stuff, Toby," a blonde-haired boy said as we walked out. "D'you think you could help me with my homework?"

"Um—"

"Oh, how about me?" A girl with green eyes came up to me.

"I—"

"But _I'm_ failing! I need help the most!" Another girl strode up to me, books in hand.

"Guys…?"

"Oh, please help me, and not that loser!" the girl with green eyes whined, pointing at the blonde-haired boy.

"I don't—"

"Hey, I'm not a loser!" the boy growled, teeth grinding.

I just shut my mouth and stopped walking altogether. The two arguing kids didn't even notice I wasn't with them as they continued arguing down the hallway. I smiled to myself and turned, but instantly I bumped into the other girl. She had glasses and dark brown eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized.

"No, it's fine," she said, smiling. "Sooo…could you help me with my work? You know…tutor me…?"

"Um…" I mumbled. "I don't know… I'm kind of… W-well, I guess I could," I stuttered, not knowing what else to say, or how to decline her nicely.

"Yay!" she squealed. "I'll see you at lunch then!"

"Uh…" But she was already off down the hallway. I sighed. "Great…" I muttered.

I walked down the hall to my next class, and only just made it in time before the bell rang. I didn't have time to grab my math book out from my locker, and I sighed in defeat, sitting in my seat near the front of the class. I usually didn't forget my things, but there were just so many people crowding me today, and it was taking a lot out of me. I looked at the front of the class noticing that there was a new teacher – Ms. Maleary – hurrying up to her desk at the front.

She looked down at me. "Oh! It seems we have a new student," she exclaimed, blinking at me.

"I-I'm not exactly a _new_ student," I said.

Ms. Maleary's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Oh?" she asked.

"I'm Toby Tenma, I've been here before, just not until today," I told her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, smiling. "I watched the news and saw your picture. Now I remember you! That poor Astro, though…" She broke off and shook her head sadly. "Such a sad ending, poor fella…"

I nodded, noticing that the students in _this_ class were staring at me as well. Was that something I would have to get used to?

"Well, it's good to have you in our class, Mr. Tenma," the teacher said, shaking her head and putting a smile on her face. "My name's Ms. Maleary, by the way. Now…" She turned to the board behind her. "I want you kids to figure out…"

So, that was pretty much how the rest of the day went.

That was, until lunch came around after third period.

"Toby!"

I turned my head to see the girl with glasses from after first period hurrying over to me with a big smile on her face. I groaned inwardly. _Oh, great, I forgot about her…_

"So here's my…physics…book…thingy, and I was wondering if you could help me figure out this one problem in here…" She brought out the textbook from her bag she was carrying over her shoulder and opened it, flipping through the pages. "There—that one right there," she said, pointing to a more difficult problem. Well, difficult for _her,_ easy-peasy for _me._

I sighed. "Okay…why don't we sit down first, and I'll walk you through it?" I asked.

"Okay!" she said, smiling. We headed over to a table, where I set down my lunch tray on. She sat down next to me and plopped her book on the table.

"Okay, the first thing to do is add up the equilibrium's in the square," I instructed.

She nodded and wrote it down in her notebook that she had also brought out. "Okay…"

"And then you have to round up the annotations to allow the rounds to equal out, do you understand?"

"Yup," she said, scribbling some more.

I pointed at the problem at a particular part. "Usually you'd get this for an answer, but sometimes if the problem says so, you have to calculate the remaining add-ons in order to come up with the full answer."

"Ohhh, I get it…" The girl scribbled something more in her notebook, then showed it to me. "So would _that_ be the answer?"

"Yup!" I said, smiling. "You've got it."

The girl beamed. "Thank you so much!" she cried. "I could never get that problem right!"

I smiled. "You're welcome, er… What's your name?"

"The name's Violet," she answered.

"You're welcome, Violet." I had actually enjoyed helping her. I would've never gotten this much attention as Astro! But now that I was Toby to everyone…it made me feel so much better. I took a bite of my grilled cheese, which was the lunch for today.

"Be right back," she said. "Gonna get me some lunch."

I nodded, still chewing my food. Once she was over in the lunch line, I opened my chocolate milk carton and began drinking from that. Oh, how _wonderful_ it tasted! I remember how Toby used to always love to drink chocolate milk.

"ASTRO?!" someone behind me shouted.

I spewed my chocolate milk, whipping my head around to see who'd shouted at me. Zane was standing there, eyes wide. His left arm was in a cast and sling, and his right arm was holding a backpack on his shoulder. "Um…I-I'm not Astro," I said, looking between his arm and his shocked face. _I wonder what happened to his arm?_ I wondered.

"Oh…oh! Yeah, that's right. Gosh, how dumb am I?" Zane rolled his eyes. "You're Toby, right? Not Astro?"

I nodded and looked down at the ground. "Um…y-yeah. I'm Toby."

"Right…sorry for startling you," he muttered, and then walked off and sat down at a table at the edge of the cafeteria, next to a girl with purple streaks in her hair. Cora.

I looked at the two of them, contemplating what I should do. _Should I go over there?_ I wondered. _But what about Violet…?_ I frowned, staring down at my grilled cheese. My stomach grumbled as the food's aroma went up my nose. _I _still_ gotta get used to that…_ I gave a sigh when I saw Violet walk back to my table.

"Hi again," she said cheerfully, sitting down and setting her tray on the table.

"Hi," I greeted.

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You look bothered," she said.

I shrugged. "Well…" I shook my head. "It's nothing," I sighed, taking another bite of my grilled cheese. _I'll try to talk to them after school,_ I thought, glancing one more time at my two friends. _As long as they're still here…_

"Well, if you want, I can leave…?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, no, no, no. It's fine, really," I replied, shaking my head. "I said it was nothing. Now, what you need to do is work on some problems, and if you have any more questions, ask me, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay!" she replied, smiling and taking a bite of her sandwich.

* * *

Once school was over, I waited near the entrance, hoping to catch Cora and Zane leaving. _Where are they?_ I wondered as I scanned the crowd of eager students ready to go home.

Finally, I spotted them, trailing behind at a slow pace, talking to each other in low, hushed voices._ There they are!_ I hurried over to them, my heart racing. _What do I say to them? Do I just…_befriend_ them?_ I stepped up to them and gave a little cough. The two teens looked at me, surprised.

"Um…you—you two were Astro's…best friends, right?" I asked.

Zane narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? What's it to you?" he growled.

"Uh…I just…" I broke off, at a loss for words. "I-I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just go." I turned, ready to go to the car where Orrin was waiting, but Cora stopped me.

"Hold on," she said, grabbing my shoulder. "Why were you asking?"

"I, uh…I just…wanted some friends was all," I said, shrugging and kicking the ground shyly. "And since you were good friends with Astro…I thought you could be friends with me, too."

"Wait a minute, who told you we were friends of his?" Cora asked, raising an eyebrow.

_Uh-oh…_ "Um…m-my dad told me. A-and I saw a few pictures…" I remembered the picture that we took at Hamegg's and relaxed. _Right, that picture…_

"Oh." Cora crossed her arms. "Well…I don't know. All I know is that you and Astro are nothing alike…"

"Who says we're nothing alike?" I asked.

"Your dad _and_ Astro did," Cora said.

I shrugged. "Well, even if I _am_ different, does that not qualify me for being your friend at least?"

She looked off in another direction, thinking. "Well…I guess. But it won't be the same, because you're not Astro."

_BUT I AM!_ I wanted to scream, but I knew I couldn't. I had to keep it a secret…for now, at least. "Thank you… Um…I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school?"

"Yeah, I guess," Cora sighed, turning back to look at me.

"By the way, er…Zane, was it? What happened to your arm?"

"Oh, this?" He grinned. "Well, I was fighting some rogue robots on the Surface—"

"That's funny, Zane," Cora interrupted him. "I never knew rogue robots looked like ladders. Or that falling looked like fighting." Zane blushed, looking away.

I chuckled. "Rogue ladders. Gotta watch out for those."

That made them both laugh. "Well, see you tomorrow, I guess," Cora said, waving goodbye.

"Goodbye, Cora. Bye, Zane," I sighed, waving to them as they walked off in the opposite direction of my home. _They must be living together… I wonder what happened to Sludge and Widget? And all the other orphans? Did they all get adopted, since Hamegg's 'business' was ruined?_

I walked over to the limo, where Orrin was waiting in front of the car. "Hello, Toby. Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, I guess," I sighed, hopping into the car.

Orrin got into the driver's seat and started the limo. "It seems you've made a few friends," he said, driving away from the school.

I turned around to look back at the retreating forms of Zane and Cora down the road. "They were _already_ my friends…" I sighed.

The ride home was short, but when I got back to our apartment, I knew immediately something wasn't right. Dad was standing in front of the TV, his face ashen. "What's wrong, Dad?" I asked, concerned.

He turned to me slowly, his eyes dark. "Stone has escaped from prison."

"WHAT?!" I couldn't help but shout. "What do you mean?!"

"I _mean_ that he's escaped and we have no idea where he is now!" he said. "And he wasn't the only one to escape, either."

"Who else escaped?" I asked, my voice trembling somewhat.

"General Heckler also escaped, and that would mean that nothing good is going to come from this mess," he sighed.

I looked at the ground. _So Stone escaped? Uh-oh… Then that means he's going to try and get revenge on me! Since he was sent to a prison on the Surface, he won't know that 'Astro' is dead…!_ I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "So…what now?" I asked. "What do we do now?"

"I'm trying to finish your battle suit as soon as possible," Dad said. "Believe you me, I'd rather you not go out and fight to protect everyone in your human state, but you'd probably do it anyway." He gave a dry chuckle.

I looked away, sullen. "You're probably right, but I'd rather not die a third time. And especially since I'm human now, I can't be brought back. And I don't want you to lose another human son."

Dad smiled sadly. "I know, Astro, I know, and I thank you for that, but…" He sighed. "I think it's best if you just keep low, okay? Keep yourself hidden, except for at school."

"But what if he comes for me at school?" I asked. "All the other students would be in danger!" _Not to mention my friends,_ I thought.

Dad sighed. "This is getting to be a bigger problem each minutes," he said.

"But wait… He won't know I'm at the school," I murmured, tapping a finger on my chin. "Surely he'd search here first…or at the arena on the Surface he found me at last time… And besides, if I keep pretending I'm Toby, then maybe he won't harm me, right?"

"Maybe," he said. "Maybe…" Dad shook his head. "I just need some more time to think about this, son," he said.

"Okay…I-I'll be in my room, then," I said, fingering the strap to my backpack. "…Homework."

"Right, right," he murmured, his hand to his chin as he stared aimlessly at the TV screen as the news report continued.

I stood there for a moment longer before sighing and heading off to my room. _I sure hope that Stone doesn't find me. Surely, he'll figure out that 'Astro' is dead sooner or later, right? And he won't come after me?_ But something in my mind just told me that what I had thought wasn't true. I just ignored the feeling and hopped onto my bed, taking the homework out of my bag and shooting through it like it was all nothing.

I sighed again as I put the last sheet of finished homework back into my backpack, when I spotted my phone in my bag. I'd put it there so I wouldn't forget to charge it. I took my phone out and walked over to the charger on the wall—when suddenly, an idea occurred to me. _The Blue Core didn't get destroyed when I turned human,_ I thought. _It dissolved! Which means…I still _have_ it inside me!_ I glanced at my dead phone and slowly put a finger over it.

Nothing happened at first, and I sighed. _Maybe I'm just not concentrating hard enough…_ Concentrating harder, I pointed my finger at it once again. Slowly but surely, blue energy slowly excreted from my finger and surrounded my phone. I gasped, eyes widening as the phone beeped once, turning on and glowing bright blue before the halo disappeared. "I did it!" I exclaimed, laughing.

Suddenly, the room started spinning, fatigue making my legs shake, hardly able to hold myself up. My legs gave out underneath me, and I fell to the floor unconscious.

* * *

Sirens blared and searchlights shone everywhere possible in the dark night. Two dark figures hurried in the shadows, one hiding behind a tall oak tree, and the other running out from the hole they had escaped from.

"Hurry up, Heckler!" Stone grumbled, running out from the cover behind the tree.

The stout, short man hurried after the former President, a stricken look on his face. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing, Sir?"

"Of course we are!" he snapped as they ran away from the Surface prison. "I don't belong in that dirty prison anymore than you do! I want my revenge on that robot boy, Astro!"

Heckler's eyes narrowed. "Yes, he revoked us of our positions in the city!"

"Exactly," Stone mumbled, the lights from the prison far behind them. "And I know just the man to help us…"

"Oh? Who would that be?" Heckler asked, nearly tripping over a log as they ran through what was left of the forest on the Surface, leading out towards the junk piles in the distance where Metro City floated.

"His name is Hamegg." Stone grinned darkly. "And I have a feeling he'll be _more_ than happy to help us…"

* * *

**A/N:** Uh-oh! Stone and Heckler escaped! NUUUUU! IT'S THE END OF THE WORRRRLDDD! XD jk, we don't know that for sure yet *shifty eyes* XD Anyway...I hope you enjoyed! Review!


	4. Discoveries

**Chapter 4: Discoveries **

_Beep—Beep—Beep—Beep—_

I groggily waved my hand in the air, trying to hit the snooze button. My hand instead continued to smack the bottom of my dresser, and I opened my eyes slowly. Why the heck was I on the floor? I turned my eyes in the direction of an object lying next to my head on the floor. It was my phone. Suddenly, memories came flooding back. I had used some of the dissolved Blue Core energy to charge up my phone, and then…I had blacked out.

I slowly got up and looked at the clock. It was ten minutes to seven. "Oh, jeez!" I shouted, scrambling to my feet. "I'm gonna be late for school!"

I rushed through my closet and yanked on a random t-shirt and a pair of pants—only to realize a few moments later, my t-shirt was backwards and my pants were inside out. _Could things get a little_ more_ difficult around here?_ I thought to myself as I quickly corrected my clothes and brushed my teeth as quickly as possible. I ran out of my room and into the kitchen where Dad was getting ready to leave as well.

"Astro…aren't you forgetting something?" my dad asked, pointing at my head.

I looked up and felt the top of my head, realizing that my spikes were down. "GAH!" I grumbled, running back upstairs. I grabbed the gel and parted my hair into their signature spikes, and then ran out—only to race back into my room and grab my backpack. "Don't want to forget _that…"_ I said to myself, running back out again.

Nearly tripping down the stairs, I raced for the front door, only to realize that Orrin was still back in the kitchen. I turned around with a groan and a roll of my eyes, nearly falling into the house-bot. "AH! Oh, sorry, Orrin."

"It's alright, Astro. Are you ready for school?" he asked, smiling politely.

I nodded, letting out a breath. "Yup!"

As we hurried out the door and down the elevator to the bottom floor of the apartment building, Orrin turned his head to me. "You sure seem enthusiastic today. Are you excited to talk to your new friends?"

"Huh…? Oh, oh, uh…yeah—I-I guess," I stuttered. "Um…" We walked out of the penthouse to the limo and I hopped in the backseat. Orrin hopped in the front and started the car, and soon we were on our way to the school. "L-like I said before, they were already my friends… Well, _Astro's_ friends…"

"Oh, that's too bad," Orrin replied.

"Yeah…" I mumbled, looking down.

Once we arrived at Metro High, I sighed, getting out of the limo.

"Have a good day, Toby!" Orrin called as I stepped outside.

"Yeah…thanks," I sighed, tightening my grip on my bag. _Now…where are Cora and Zane? I'm supposed to meet them around here at school today._ I made my way up the stairs while looking around, trying to find the two.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Zane in his arm cast.

"Oh, Zane!" I exclaimed. "Hi."

"Sup?" he grunted. "Cora's, uh…waiting over here." He led me to the entrance doors where Cora was standing, her arms crossed and worried look on her face.

"Did you hear about Stone?" she asked. "Oh, wait—hi, how are you?" she added, finally noticing me. "Okay, now back to Stone."

"Yeah, I heard about it," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I don't get the big deal they're making."

"The big deal? The _big deal?!"_ Cora shouted, and I flinched back. "Dude, where've you been? Oh, yeah, that's right. In a coma…" She looked away, fire in her eyes. "Your dad should've at least told you about what happened."

"Well, er…he kinda didn't. So…do you mind filling me in?" I asked, but of course, I already knew. I just wanted it to seem like I was Toby and not Astro.

Cora sighed, brushing away a stray strand of hair. "Can't believe he didn't tell you…" she muttered. "Well—you heard about the two Cores, Red Core and Blue Core, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Blue Core was what charged Astro, right?"

"Yeah, well, Stone wanted to use the Blue Core to start a war with the Surface," Cora explained. "But Astro got away before Stone could take it and use it, so he tried using the Red Core and the Peacekeeper to get it back."

"Oh, okay," I mumbled as she continued on.

"Yeah, and so when Astro came to the Surface and hung with us for a while…we didn't know he was a robot at first. When we all found out… Eh, let's just say it was _pretty_ shocking, really," she sighed.

I looked at the ground and fixated the strap on my shoulder in a better position. _I would've told you…_ I thought. _I just…didn't know _how_ to tell you…_

"But Stone finally found him, and took him away from us. And around a half hour or so later, the Peacekeeper was destroying Metro City and Astro was saving it from destruction. Apparently, Stone was absorbed by the Peacekeeper, just like you were…but he was controlling it," Cora finished, looking back at me.

"Oh, alright, now I understand," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah…" Cora murmured. "I sure miss Astro…"

My eyes softened and I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Cora," I told her. She looked into my eyes and I looked into hers. "I'm sure…he's in a better place now."

"Do robots even have souls—OOF!" Cora elbowed Zane in the stomach, him bending over and holding himself.

"Of course they have souls!" she growled, turning her anger onto the teen. "Don't even think they don't! Especially Astro. He had the purest soul I've ever seen!"

_Cora…_ I thought as I watched her, my hand back to my side. _GAH! I really wish I could tell you! I want to! Really bad!_ I grabbed the sides of my head when I thought that, and Cora and Zane turned to me, concerned.

"You okay?" Cora asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh…I-I'm fine," I stammered, lowering my hands. "I-it's nothing."

"…Are you sure?" Zane asked.

I nodded, forcing a smile on my face. "Yup! Positive."

Cora opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the bell. "Whoops. Time for class!" she said instead. "See you later, Toby."

As they walked away into the school, I waved after them sadly, standing my ground as kids flooded by me and inside the building. "Yeah…see you."

* * *

The sky had darkened as Stone and Heckler made their way to Hamegg's hideout.

"What makes you think he's going to help us, even when we tell him we're after Astro?" Heckler hissed, beads of sweat dripping down his round face as they crossed the rusty bridge.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times," Stone growled. "Even if he wasn't interested in helping, he still owes me! And I know he's not one to back off from debts like this, as cunning and as slippery a snake he is."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Heckler grunted. "But how in the world can you keep going like this without breaking a sweat, Sir?"

"I was a track star in high school," he said bluntly, hurrying to the edge of the bridge. "Down there," he said, pointing to a small building with little lights on the front of it.

Heckler puffed up next to him. "How are we getting down there?"

"There's a slide here," Stone grumbled, sitting down gingerly and sliding down. After a moment or two, Heckler plopped onto the slide and slid down, landing on his butt down at the bottom.

"Get up, you idiot," Stone growled again.

"Yes, Sir," Heckler wheezed, standing up and rubbing his behind.

Coming up to the door, Stone pounded on it three times. "Hey! Hamegg!" he shouted. "Come out!"

There was no answer.

"Maybe he's not home?" Heckler puffed, bending over with his hands on his knees.

"Of course he's home. He ain't got nothing else better to do!"

"Maybe he moved?" Heckler suggested again.

Stone rolled his eyes. "If he moved, then why would there be a light on inside through the window?" he shot back, pointing his hand at the window.

"New residents?"

Stone cuffed him on the back of the head. "If you can't think of anything good to say while we're on this mission, then don't bother saying anything at all!" he roared.

"Sorry, Sir," he mumbled with his head down.

Suddenly the eyepiece on the door slid open quickly. "Oh, great. You," Hamegg growled, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, us. Now let us in," Stone ordered.

"Why should I?" Hamegg asked. "I'm not harboring criminals."

"Because you owe me," Stone replied, his voice lowering to a hiss. "And we're offering you something I know you'll be interested in."

Hamegg hesitated for a moment. "Fine, fine, come in," he said, the metal door sliding up, allowing Stone and Heckler passage. "This had better be good."

"Oh, it is… It is…" Stone muttered as he stepped inside, hands behind his back. Heckler hurried in after him and Hamegg shut the door. Once they were inside the vicinity, Stone looked around. "Oh, no little brats?"

"No, they all got adopted," Hamegg said, shrugging. "After my mishap at the Games, they kind of hated me and wanted new homes."

"Good riddance to them, I say," Stone said, crossing his arms. "But back to why we're here."

"If this is about getting revenge on Astro," Hamegg cut in, "you can sure as heck forget it. Astro Boy's dead."

The room seemed to flood with the sudden silence. Stone stared at Hamegg in shock. "What."

"Yeah, it happened about a few days ago," Hamegg replied, sitting in a chair. "You may wanna take a seat, this may last a while."

Grumbling to himself, Stone sat in the chair, along with Heckler, who kept looking around Hamegg's home. "So…tell me what happened. How did that robot boy die?"

"Well, according to Dr. Tenma, he got an incurable virus that affected his microchips in his brain and fried them. So he was un-savable, and Tenma had to shut him down."

"The Core, where's the Core?" Stone asked, leaning forward.

"That I don't know," Hamegg responded. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in-tune with _everything_ the Ministry does, due to the fact that I got _fired."_

"Then how did you know Astro Boy died?" Heckler grunted, furrowing his brow.

Hamegg stared at the formal general. "The _news,_ you moron!" he said incredulously.

"Oh," Heckler mumbled, scratching the top of his bald head.

"There was no news in the prison, not even a television," Stone grumbled, setting his elbows on the table. "Well, that stinks… Hmm…maybe we can find the robot skeleton and try to at least find the Core and make the robot into a weapon to destroy the city? For my revenge?"

Hamegg gave a dry chuckle. "You're talking suicide," he cried. "Do you even remember how high-tech the security system is? You can't just waltz in there and steal the robot's skeleton _or_ the Core like that!"

"Then how would you propose we steal the Core?" Stone asked.

"Well, I could build a robot that could steal it for us," Hamegg said with a smile, placing his hands across his stomach. "That way we wouldn't have to kill ourselves trying to get it."

"You mean like a killing machine type of robot?" Stone asked.

Hamegg nodded. "Like a killing machine."

"I'm liking this idea…" Stone murmured, smiling with glee.

Hamegg stood up and walked over to a shelf, pulling something out. "Lucky for you two," he began, handing Stone a cylindrical container, "that lightning machine wasn't the only thing I stole from Dr. Tenma. Of course, I actually swiped this not too long ago. I'd actually been planning some revenge myself, as a matter of fact."

Stone opened the container and slid out the two large rolls of white paper. He opened one of them and his eyebrows rose. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, shocked.

Hamegg nodded. "Yes," he replied. "That is the blueprint of Astro Boy himself."

* * *

"Daaaad, I'm hungry!" I called from my room as I zipped through my homework.

"Orrin'll be up in a minute, son!" Dad called back.

About two minutes passed and Orrin rolled into the room with a tray in his hands. "Hello, Astro! I brought you a PB & J sandwich and some juice." He set down the tray on my dresser. "Anything else?"

"Nope. Thanks, Orrin!" I said, finishing my homework and pushing it back into the bag, turning to the tray with food as Orrin left. I grabbed my sandwich and stuffed a big bite of it into my mouth, and then cringed when it went down my throat like a big rock. "Ow," I mumbled, rubbing my throat. "I hate it when I do that."

Taking a sip of my juice, I looked at the clock. It was ten minutes to six. I had gotten home around two hours ago, after I stayed after a little bit to help clean up. At school, Josh had made a mess and blamed it on me, and so that's why. It seemed that those three wouldn't leave me alone, but it was no big deal, really.

"Astro, would you come here please?" Dad called from downstairs.

I looked to the door, then back to my juice and sandwich, and then back to the door, and then to my sandwich. "Gah, fine," I sighed, getting up, making sure to take my food and drink with me. I ran down the stairs to see my father by the front door. "What's up?" I asked, taking another bite of my food.

"You'll see," Dad said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Finish up your food and then come with me."

"Uh…o-okay," I stammered, finishing up my sandwich and chugging down the juice. After I was finished, my dad led me out of the apartment and down the elevator. As we left the apartment building, I looked up at my dad. "Um…where are we going?"

"To the Ministry. I need to show you something," he answered, smiling as he hopped in the front seat of the limo. I sat in the backseat as he started the car, beginning to drive away and towards the tall building in the distance.

When the car finally came to a halt, I hopped out again and followed my dad to the front entrance doors. He led me to the elevator, which took us to the eleventh floor, which was the floor the lab was on.

"This way," he said. We'd finally reached the lab, and he opened its giant doors, revealing what was inside. I gasped, awestruck.

"Like it?" Dad asked. He walked over to the suit of armor and patted its shoulder. "I call it 'Cobalt'."

"Wow…" I breathed. It was amazing! The armor was both red and black, two spikes resting on its head—not quite like my lopsided horns, but more like actual ones. The face was flesh-toned, but the eyes were black, seemingly lifeless. The boots were also black, I noticed, not to mention _huge._ "It looks a little…big," I reflected.

"Yeah, it's so you can fit in it, and also it gives you a little room so that if robots scan you, they can't tell you're human," Dad replied with a smile.

I smiled at my dad, and then frowned again. "Um…how am I going to put it on without anyone seeing?" I asked. "Like—it's not like I can hide it in my _backpack_ or something, and bring it out when I need it really quickly."

"Ah, about that," Dad said, chuckling. "Look at this." He tapped a compartment on the arm of the suit, and then pressed a button inside of it. The suit suddenly started to transform, becoming smaller and smaller until it was just an ordinary backpack.

I stared, eyes wide. "What—how—but—how did you _do_ that?!" I cried. "There's _no_ way all of that could fit in there!"

"I know," Dad said. "Which is why I've decided to take most of my time recently studying Adaptive Technology. As it transforms, it basically folds into itself, making more room. And then it can fold out again" —he pressed another button on the backpack, and soon the large suit was standing before me once again— "into its original form."

"Wow…" I breathed again, awestruck. "So, can I use the suit's backpack form as a backpack?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Sadly, no. But the good news is, is that it's got all the weapons you used to have," he replied, patting the suit of armor once more. "It's got the laser cannons, rocket boots, x-ray vision…and even the machine guns."

I couldn't help but snicker, and Dad smiled.

"Yes, it has the butt guns, son."

"Pffft," I muffled through my hands. "But at least the suit is awesome. Thanks, Dad!"

He chuckled. "You wanna try it on?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed.

"Okay, but you'll have to put it in its other shape first," Dad said, flipping the switch again, making the suit transform into its backpack shape once more.

I slipped my arms into the straps, lifting it off the stand. I stumbled, surprised at how heavy it was. "Yow, this thing's a dead-weight," I commented, heaving it higher onto my shoulders.

Dad smiled. "Well, just because it's absorbed into itself to make it smaller doesn't necessarily mean the weight of it will be lighter," he replied. "If anything, it makes it a little heavier."

"Right, 'cause its density increases," I said, nodding. "Gotcha."

"Okay, now brace yourself," Dad said, pressing the button on the strap.

The pack transformed around me, layering itself onto my arms and legs, wrapping itself around my head and feet, and once it was finally done and on, a light blue screen popped up in my line of vision. "What's this for?" I asked.

"The what?"

"This blue screen," I said, crossing my eyes slightly to look at it.

"Oh, that's for GPS, tracking systems, getting your weapons and functions online, and all the other things," he replied.

"Right, okay…" I flexed my arms and fingers, getting used to the feel of the suit around me. I turned to face my dad, and gave a grin he couldn't see. "Ha! I'm almost as tall as you!" I cried, pointing.

Dad chuckled. "Well, I had to put your rockets _somewhere,"_ he said. "Underneath and some around your feet being a good option, the result of you being taller."

"Sweet!" I breathed. A thought occurred to me suddenly. "Um…does this thing grow with me? Since I'm kind of…you know, human?"

"Er, no, but I'd decided once it starts getting a little small, I'll upgrade it to make it bigger for you," he replied. "It should feel a bit roomy now, right?"

"A bit," I acknowledged.

"That's good," he said, nodding.. "Okay, now if you want to try out the flight module, you may do so, but be careful, alright? I don't want to have to explain the damage in the lab if you crash into something."

"Okay…" I murmured, looking around the blue screen for the flight module. I located it almost immediately, but frowned. "How do I turn it on?"

"Just think about flying," he said. "I made the suit flex to the mind of the beholder, so whatever you think, the suit obeys."

"Cool!" I breathed, doing as I was told. Once I thought about flying, a bright blue box surrounded the flight module on the screen, beeping slightly. Suddenly, my boots transformed into rockets, and I lifted off into the air. "WHOA!" I shouted, almost crashing into the ceiling, but quickly flying back down and around the lab. "Haha! This is so cool! I almost forgot how awesome it was to fly!"

"Okay, come down now," Dad called.

I gave a little pout behind the mask, but landed a few yards away from him. "That. Was. _Awesome!"_ I cried. "Can I go again? But like—outside?"

"I don't know if that would be a good idea just yet, Astro," he said, hesitant. "We haven't released the information of the new robot protector yet. Just give it some time and let people get used to the idea, and then you can go out and fly around in your suit. But for now—you have to practice in here, getting used to your new weapons. Sound fair?"

"Yeah, sounds fair," I sighed. But then I frowned – but of course, Dad couldn't see it. "But if I'm going to practice with my weapons in here…what will I practice _on?"_

Dad strummed his fingers on his bearded chin. "Hmmm…maybe the weapon drones would be a good practice for you."

"Sounds good to me!" I exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

"Hmm…" Hamegg studied the blueprints with furrowed eyebrows, concentrating hard. "This will be trickier than I thought…"

"What do you mean?" Stone demanded, walking over to the table where the beginnings of the robot was laid out, along with lots of wires, bolts, screws, and about a dozen or so different screwdrivers and wrenches.

"Well, genius, if you haven't noticed already, I don't exactly have access to everything the Ministry of Science does," Hamegg said snidely. "I've had to improvise more than once—but looking here at the arm cannons… Jeez, Tenma must have spent millions of dollars building this thing!"

"No doubt about that…" Stone grumbled.

Hamegg studied the blueprints some more. "It's going to be tough, but I think I'll be able to manage. I mean, we _do_ have junk happening to be lying not even fifty feet outside the door, so any parts I need, surely we'll find them."

"When do you think you'll be finished?" Stone asked, itching for revenge.

"Well, I'll be done when I'm good and done," he snapped. "Now go play with your general buddy and leave me be. I've got work to do."

Stone gave a low grumble and stormed off, leaving Hamegg alone. He picked up a small wrench and started fiddling with a loose bolt, and then stepped back, rubbing his stubbily chin. The robot was coming along slowly but surely. The only _real_ problem Hamegg knew he had was the skin, which protected all the more delicate parts inside the robot. He didn't have all those gizmos Tenma had, what with the nearly impenetrable human-like skin…but that part could wait, at least. Right now, he just needed to get the robot skeleton finished and fully functional, which would take quite a long time. Hamegg didn't know how long exactly it would take, but he knew it wouldn't take more than a week.

Stone huffed impatiently as he entered back into the main room where Heckler sat in his chair, snoring away. "Wake up, you idiot."

"Huh—what?" Heckler grunted, looking around rapidly. "Oh, sorry, Sir."

"We're gonna have to wait a while for the robot," he sighed, sitting in the chair next to his companion. "At least it'll be worth the wait."

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime, then, Sir?" Heckler asked.

Stone rolled his eyes. "I don't know, but I know I'm not going to sit around and mope all day! I'd rather do something, but there isn't much _to_ do down here," he grumbled, leaning the palm of his hand on his face.

"Do you wanna arm wrestle then, or something?" Heckler suggested.

"Sure, why not…" Stone grunted. They grabbed at each other's hands and instantly, their faces turned vile as they battled with one another.

* * *

"Goodnight, Astro!" Dad called.

"Night, Dad!" I called back, snuggling down into my bed. It was only a few moments after laying there quietly that my eyelids began to droop. I relaxed as the sweet relief of sleep washed over me…

_I was standing in the middle of an abandoned building, rubble strewn everywhere. I turned my head this way and that, searching for something…or someone. "Where are you…?" I muttered, my keen eyes alert and wary. A sudden crash behind me made me whirl around to see a figure running towards me—but I couldn't clearly see him because of the dust cloud. But I knew it was who I had been looking for._

_"Looking for me?" a voice called, similar to my own—yet at the same time, different._

_A blast of light shot from the figure, hitting me square in the chest and making me fly backwards. I screamed in agony as I landed on my arm, unbearable pain shooting from it. "AH!" I shouted, looking up at the figure. The dust cloud soon began to clear, revealing a teenage boy with a slight orange tan. "Wh-who are you?" I stammered, still holding onto my arm tightly._

_"Atlas." He glowered down at me with a cold smirk. "Now get up, weakling."_

_I scrambled to my feet holding onto my arm, and realized that the boy—Atlas—was the same height as me. I glowered at the boy in front of me, but winced again as the pain in my arm seemed to worsen._

_Atlas smirked. "Tell me…how does it feel to be _weak?"_ he asked, walking towards me again, but slower this time. "To be as helpless as one of those miserable creatures you call humans? Why did you even turn yourself into one, I wonder?" He grabbed the front of my shirt, his green eyes glowering maliciously. "Didn't you know something like this" —he gestured around us— "would happen if you did? Wonder why you didn't," he laughed coldly._

_"Put me down!" I grunted, struggling in his grasp._

_"Not until you learn your lesson, _Astro Boy,"_ he hissed, a dark flame flickering in his eyes._

_I gasped. How did he know that?_

_"You're weak, _very_ weak. You were special before, and now you're no one. You may think you are, but you're not," he continued._

_"That's not true!" I hissed. "I'm someone! I'm Toby!"_

_"Haha, right," he snickered, his fist clenching tighter. "You're _Toby._ Well, I'll have you know, _Toby,_ that your life is soon coming to an end." I kicked and squirmed, trying to get out of his iron grip, but it didn't work. He just laughed at me. "How pathetic! Why do you even try? You aren't powerful anymore, _Toby."_ He grinned. _"I'm_ more powerful than _you_ think!"_

_"GAH!" I yelled, trying to summon up my arm cannons, but remembered I didn't have them anymore._

_Atlas gave a cold laugh. "Good luck, _Toby!"_ he chided, and grabbed my throat._

My eyes flew open and I shot up with a cry of terror, my covers flying off me. I was gasping and drenched with sweat, my heart beating at a hundred miles per hour. It took me a few moments just to calm down, the flow of adrenaline in me fading away. "Just…just a dream," I whispered. "Just a dream… Yeah! It was just a dream." I sighed, silently counting to ten in my head and looked at the clock on top of my dresser. It was almost time to wake up, being ten minutes to six.

I swallowed, getting up from my bed and turning off the alarm that was supposed to wake me up in a few minutes. After that was done, I headed into the bathroom to relieve myself – still trying to get used to that. _That was…one heck of a dream,_ I thought as I finished with the bathroom, heading downstairs and into the dining room. Once I got down there, I noticed that my dad wasn't at the table eating yet. Orrin rolled by and I turned to him. "Hey, where's Dad?" I asked.

"Your father is at work. He had to go early, because of a call from the Ministry," Orrin said.

"Oh…" I sighed. _I should really tell Dad about that nightmare…_

"Is anything wrong, Astro?" Orrin asked.

"Oh, um…no. Hey, um…what's for breakfast?" I asked nervously.

"Anything you want."

"Um…I don't know, maybe just a muffin, I guess," I replied, shrugging.

Orrin smiled. "Would chocolate chip suffice?"

"Yeah, sure!" Orrin left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts at the table. _It was probably just a nightmare,_ I thought to myself. _Just a normal nightmare. Nothing to bother Dad about._ But I couldn't shake the feeling that it _hadn't_ been just a normal nightmare.

Once Orrin returned into the dining room with my muffin on a small plate, he handed it to me and I nibbled on it nonchalantly, the thoughts of my nightmare troubling me. "Will that be all, Astro?" Orrin asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," I answered, taking a small bite from the muffin. Pictures of the nightmare swam around in my head. "Atlas…" I whispered to myself. _Orange tanned skin? He's definitely a robot. Hmm…_ I nibbled on my muffin again. _Oh, well. I should just forget about it, since it was just a nightmare, and nightmares aren't real, right?_

I decided not to think about that nightmare anymore, so I finished my muffin and got ready for school. I was eager to see Cora and Zane again. Around ten minutes later, I opened the car door and hopped out of the limo, finding myself in front of the school.

"Have a good day at school, Toby!" Orrin called, driving away.

I sighed, taking the steps that led me to the front doors. Once I passed by them, I instantly ran into someone. "OOF!" I huffed, falling on my back. I rubbed my head in pain and looked up to see a boy with dark ginger hair lying on the ground, also rubbing his head. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Ow…" he whispered, opening his eyes and looking at me. He seemed shocked at first, but then sighed. "Oh, yeah, that's right. You're not Astro…"

"Um…" I mumbled, standing up and brushing myself off. "Yeah…well, er… I should…get going. Sorry for bumping into you."

"That's okay…Toby, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, Toby," I replied.

"Well, I'm new here. The name's Reno," he said with a smile. "See you later." He waved after me as he walked away.

I watched as Reno walked away, and then turned away myself. "Okay, now where—OOF!" Another person had crashed into me, and I fell to the floor again. "Ow! Jeez, has the floor turned into a Toby magnet, or something?" I grumbled.

"Oh, sorry, Toby!" Zane looked down at me sheepishly and offered me a hand. "Wasn't lookin' where I was going. You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," I mumbled, rubbing my now-sore behind. "Where's Cora?"

"Sick," Zane replied, shrugging. "Got the flu."

"Aw, darn. Well…tell her I said to get better," I said.

He nodded. "Will do. So…where ya off to?"

"Class," I answered, beginning towards my locker.

"Oh, cool. I wish I had one of your classes, 'cause I have no friends. Cora has one of yours, but that's P.E. and no one likes P.E…"

I snorted. "Yeah, especially since Josh and his cronies think P.E. is a time to bully people… Wait, Cora has P.E. too?"

"Yup," Zane said.

_Well, at least now I know at least _one_ of my friends has a class with me… Too bad it's P.E._ "Well…I gotta get to class, so—"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Zane laughed. "I was just lonely without Cora. I'll talk to you later then."

"Bye, Zane."

"Bye, Toby!" he called as he hurried off towards his first class of the day.

School that day seemed to rush by, and soon I was back outside, but this time I was waiting for Orrin to pick me up. I'd finished my last class—gym—pretty early, due to the teacher having a family emergency he needed to attend to. I was now sitting outside, kicking at the ground in boredom.

"Hi…Toby, was it?" a croaky voice asked behind me.

I turned to see Reno, who was looking at me with interest. "Huh? Oh, yeah, my name's Toby," I said. "You're Reno, right?"

Reno nodded. "Yup. Sorry for knocking you over again, earlier today," he apologized. "Is your head okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. No worries," I chuckled.

"Okay, that's good. Well…as I said before, I'm new here, so… I was just trying to find my way around." He shrugged. "Guess it's more complicated than it seems."

"Yeah, I remember my first day here," I replied. "Very…hectic."

"I'm much better at robotics than anything in school. Although, the physics class helps me out a lot," Reno said, smiling.

"Hey, same here!" I said. "But I guess I get my love for robotics from my dad. Physics isn't too bad for me."

"I heard you're the smartest kid in school," Reno said.

I blinked. "Is…that what they say?" I asked, surprised and slightly flattered.

"Yup." Reno grinned. "Well, that's what I heard, anyway."

I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Well, er…that's… I-I don't know what to say to that!"

"Haha, it's okay," Reno told me. "It's normal."

"Yeah, I guess…" I perked up when I saw the limo drive up next to the school. "Oh, uh, I gotta go. See you later, Reno."

"Whoa—you have a _limo?!"_ Reno cried. "That's…so _awesome!"_ I grinned, rather embarrassed. "Well, yeah, I guess I'll see you later," Reno said finally, waving as I got into the car.

"How was your day at school?" Orrin asked.

"Fine," I answered.

"I see you made another new friend, Astro," Orrin remarked as we drove away.

"Yeah, he seems nice," I said.

"Your father wants you to come to the Ministry and practice with that…thingamajig suit," Orrin said, stammering for the right word.

"Really? Yes!" I cheered, pumping my fist into the air.

"Please don't do that while I'm driving, Astro," Orrin said shakily. "It's a little busy on the roads today."

"Sorry," I apologized, sitting down. Once we arrived at the Ministry, I hopped out and hurried inside the building.

"Hold on, As—Toby!" Orrin called, rolling after me.

"Sorry, Orrin," I called back, pressing the button for the elevator.

"Don't run away from me like that!" he panicked.

"I said I was sorry," I repeated as the doors opened. We both stepped inside, and soon we were traveling up to the eleventh floor of the Ministry, where my dad awaited. We arrived at the floor level, and I burst through the doors—only to run into someone. "OOF!" I yelped.

"Ow!" Dr. Elefun rubbed his big nose. "Please watch where you're going next time, Astro."

"Sorry, Dr. Elefun," I said apologetically. "Jeez, I'm running into everyone today!" I sighed to myself.

Elefun chuckled. "Which is why you need to _look_ so you _won't._ Haste makes waste, you know."

"Yeah, I know. It was—" I paused, blinking. "My mom's…favorite thing to say…"

"Oh, dear boy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to jog up old memories…" Elefun held out his hand, and I gladly accepted it, standing up and brushing myself off. "Er…your father's waiting in the lab. Be careful."

"I will… D-don't worry," I stammered, walking slowly towards the lab. _He said…my mom's favorite line. I wonder why? I mean, no one's mentioned her for quite some time, and it just…brought back memories, I guess…_

My mind reeled back to the time that I was five-years-old. I was sitting in the living room with my dad, watching some TV and playing with my toys. My mom left the apartment, saying she would be back later. I had paid no heed to her words, but around thirty minutes later, there had been a breaking news report on the TV, saying that there had been an accident with one fatality. It had been my mom. She was hit by a drunk driver, going down the interstate all by herself, and she was killed instantly. A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away quickly, not wanting Dad to see I was crying. He would probably ask why if he did.

The large double doors to the lab opened and I headed inside, Orrin rolling after me. "Hello, son," Dad said cheerfully. "How was school?"

"Fine," I said, my voice cracking slightly. I coughed. "Fine," I repeated.

Dad nodded. "Good, good." He smiled. "I've created a few obstacle courses for you to practice with. Are you ready to try them?" he asked, going straight to the point.

"Uh…sure," I mumbled, my mind still veered off at my mom.

"Okay, grab the backpack and we'll begin," Dad instructed.

I slowly walked over to the bag on the stand, picking it up and hefting it farther up onto my shoulders. I pressed the button on the strap and the suit transformed around me once more. I moved my fingers and legs up and down to get a good feel for them once more, and soon I was ready.

"Okay, son. The first course will be flight. See the rings up there?" He motioned towards the bright green rings that were floating in midair. I nodded and he continued. "Fly through them all, okay?"

"Kay," I said. My boots transformed into rockets and I burst into the air. I gave a whoop of joy, and I couldn't help doing a little loop-de-loop.

"The rings, son! Go through the rings!" my dad called from below.

"Right, sorry!" I steadied myself and flew through the rings, hitting dead center on each one.

"Great job, Astro!" he congratulated. "Alright, now the second test is firing your cannons at the drones."

"Okay," I answered, turning around in the air and facing the gun that would release the drones. I heard a slight beep and out began popping the drones. They began firing at me, and I quickly thought of firing my cannons. Instantly, my arms transformed into cannons, and I blasted at each drone, blue energy surging outward.

The drones exploded one by one, and I managed to destroy them all before I had got hit myself. Only a slight burn mark scorched where the drone had hit me. I put down my arms, smiling. It was all coming back to me from when I had been a robot.

"Very good, Astro," my dad applauded. "Excellent work! Okay, now the final test is to locate the power source." He motioned off towards a few machines in the far back of the room.

I smirked under my mask and hurried off towards them, turning on my x-ray vision. Bright blue searchlight-type beams shot out from my eyes and I searched and searched. I had looked at every one before finally finding the correct one. "Found it!" I called.

Suddenly, the machine transformed into a robot and smacked me out of the air. "GAH!" I shouted, hitting the ground with a loud _thunk._

"Like I said, son, _final test!"_ Dad called from behind the protective screen that was now down in front of him.

"Crap…" I mumbled. "Okay…" I stood back up again and activated my arm cannons. "Wait—what am I supposed to do again?" I called to Dad.

"Defeat it!" my dad called back, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"How?!" I couldn't help but ask, but as soon as I turned my head back around, the robot knocked me away once more. "AH!" I shouted, thrown into the wall and making a small dent. "Oops…"

The robot slowly made its way over towards me. It looked like a human spider, actually, but with only four legs instead of eight. It had two crab-like claws on its arms and it had big, bulging eyes.

"Who the heck _made_ this thing? It's _hideous!"_ I screeched, jumping out of the way as it jabbed a claw at me.

"Thank you, that's what I was aiming for," Dad called, chuckling a little.

I fired bolt after bolt of energy beams at the monster, but it hardly made a dent on its surface. _There's gotta be a weakness of some sort!_ I thought, searching for any signs of weakness. But in my moment of distraction, the monster took it as an advantage and grabbed me with its claws and slammed me into the ground. I gave a yelp of surprise as it aimed a whirring claw for my head. Then it suddenly powered down, the claws relaxing their grip on me, and the light of life dying in its eyes.

Dad came over, making a _tsking_ noise. "Well, you lost that round," Dad said. "But no worries, son. I'm sure with more practice you can eventually beat it."

I let out a sigh of relief, prying myself from the robot's claws and standing up. "Thank God _that's_ over…" I breathed.

* * *

"How are you doing, Hamegg?" Stone grumbled from beside the door, watching as the genius worked on the robot.

"I'm nearly finished," he replied, working intensely on the wires inside the robot's chest.

"Good." Stone glanced over Hamegg's shoulder at the nearly finished robot. "What are you going to use as skin?"

"That part I haven't _quite_ figured out yet," Hamegg replied without looking up. "But…I'll figure _something_ out eventually… Now kindly leave me alone, if you will? I'm in a rather difficult stage here."

Stone rolled his eyes and walked away from Hamegg, but he stopped, turning around once more. "What are you going to call it?"

Hamegg paused working for a moment, staring straight ahead of himself. "I was thinking…_Atlas_ would be an interesting name," he answered. "You know, after the God that held up the sky with his bare hands."

"That sounds fine to me," Stone grunted, walking out the door slowly. "It will definitely bring _fear_ to the citizens if their so-called _God_ attacked them…"

"Exactly," Hamegg agreed.

* * *

**A/N:** Omg, this chapter. *falls over* This was a doozy to write. But nonetheless! I have updated *bows* And again, I'm tellin ya, I'm staying one step ahead, so until chapter 9 is finished, chapter 5 will not be uploaded. :3 I'm glad you guys like my and star's story so much Hehe *scratches back of head nervously* star is delighted as well. we both say thank you :) Leave reviews please! They're greatly appreciated.


	5. Accidental Reveal

**Chapter 5: Accidental Reveal **

"DAAAD! WHERE'S MY BLUE JACKET?" I yelled, sticking my head under my bed and rummaging underneath it.

"How should I know?" Dad called back. "I'm not in charge of keeping track of your things. Why do you need it anyway?" he asked, coming into my room.

I bumped my head on the bottom of the bed as I came back out. "Ow…" I rubbed my head. "I'm…uh, going somewhere to, uh…dinner…with someone… Yeah…"

Dad raised his eyebrow. "Who?" he asked, surprised.

"Um…Cora…" I mumbled.

"Oh, wow! My son's having his first date!" He hurried up and hugged me tightly.

I blushed violently under his hug. "Dad…you're embarrassing sometimes…"

"Sorry, son." He let go and studied me carefully. "I wouldn't go in your blue jacket—that's too casual."

"I don't want to go in a _suit!"_ I protested. "And what if Cora's wearing something casual? She's that kind of person!"

"Where are you going out to eat?" Dad asked.

"Percy's Pizza Palace," I replied. "Casual place, casual clothes. Agreed?"

"Hmm…" Dad rubbed his chin. "I would wear your _red_ jacket instead of the blue one."

"Oh, uh…o-okay." I turned to head towards my closet, but Dad had already grabbed the red jacket from my closet and held it out to me. "Well, um…thank you?"

"You're welcome, son. Now be sensible." He frowned at me. "Don't do anything stupid."

I rolled my eyes, slipping my arms through the jacket sleeves. "I will, Dad—I mean, I won't," I corrected myself.

Dad smiled. "Are you going to pick her up?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, we're going to meet there…" I glanced at the clock and jumped. "HOLY CRAP, I'M GONNA BE LATE!" I ran out the door to my room, skidding to a stop next to the front door, and quickly slipped on my red shoes. "ORRIN!" I called.

Orrin appeared next to me. "Yes, Astro?"

"Can you take me to Percy's Pizza Palace?" I asked, a little breathless.

Orrin smiled. "Of course, Astro."

Hurriedly—nearly falling down outside the door in the hallway—we went as fast as we could outside the apartment building and to the limo, where Orrin and I both got in and he began away towards the pizza palace. Once we arrived, I scrambled for a hold on the door handle, and finally my trembling and nervous hand gripped it solidly. I stepped out of the car and Orrin smiled at me through the window that he had rolled down. "Have a good time, Toby!"

Once he drove away, I swallowed, turning around and looking up at the sign of the place. It read 'Percy's Pizza Palace' in big neon red lettering.

Taking a deep breath, I looked around, wondering if Cora was inside already, or if she was waiting for me out here.

Oh, my gosh, she _was_ waiting for me! Cora was sitting on a bench outside the restaurant, and gave a little smile and wave when she saw me. Sure enough, she was wearing casual clothing. I suddenly remembered this afternoon at school, when Cora had walked up to me in between our classes.

_"Hi, Toby,"_ she'd said. _"Um…I was wondering if you would…like—I dunno… Um…want to go out…tonight? U-unless you're busy, of course!"_

_"Huh?"_ I'd asked, surprised. _"Um, no, no, I'm not busy! I-I would love—like—to go out. Um…anywhere in particular?"_

_"How about Percy's Pizza Palace? I-if that's alright with you?"_

_"Yeah, sure! Sounds good to me,"_ I'd said with a smile. _"Um…why all of a sudden, if I may ask?"_

_"Oh, well…um… I just… I dunno, I guess I kinda like you…a little…"_ she stumbled for words, blushing a little.

I just smiled.

"Hey, Toby!" Cora said as I walked up to her.

"Hey," I replied, smiling and waving slightly.

"I'm actually surprised you showed up. I really didn't think you would," she laughed.

"Of course I would," I told her. "I would never stand anyone down. I'm not that kind of guy."

"Hehe…I guess." She pointed at the door. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

I nodded. "Okay!" As we both headed for the door, Cora reached for the door handle, but I grabbed it before she could and opened it for her.

"Wow, what a gentleman," she giggled, heading inside.

My heart was racing inside my chest. _Okay, so that was the right thing to do… Good job, Astro. Don't screw things up!_ I hurried in after her.

A robot waiter zoomed up to us. "Table for two?" he asked with the slight French accent that all robot waiters had.

"Yes," I responded.

"Follow me, please!" the waiter-bot said, turning around. He led us to a table, and we sat down. The waiter placed a wicker basket of breadsticks in front of us. "What would Madame and Monsieur like to drink?" he asked.

I turned to Cora. "What do you want?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Um…I think I'll have a Dr. Beach, please," she replied to the waiter-bot. "You?"

"Spritz," I replied after a moment of thinking.

"Right away." As the waiter-bot hurried off into the kitchen to grab our drinks, I hungrily grabbed for a breadstick. As I grabbed onto it, Cora's hand had also latched onto the same one, and we both looked up into each other's eyes. I chuckled nervously and let go of the breadstick, letting her have it instead.

"Thank you, Toby!" she said, smiling.

I smiled back, reaching for a different one. When the waiter returned with our drinks, he asked us what kind of pizza we would like. After a few moments of looking over the menu, we had both agreed on the Meaty-Mighty Pizza Deluxe, which arrived at our table ten minutes later.

The pizza was gooey and delicious, and while we ate, we cracked jokes and told funny stories. On more than one occasion, we nearly spewed our food from the laughter we brought out from each other.

Once I paid for the dinner, Cora and I headed outside for a light walk. "So…wanna go to Metro Park or something?" I asked, my hands shoved in my pants pockets.

She smiled. "Sure! Why not?"

A few minutes passed and we arrived at the Park, which was completely empty. I looked up at the sky, noticing that the moon was in its thin claw-like stage, and I smiled as the stars above shone brightly down on us.

Cora sat down on a park bench and I settled next to her, still looking up at the stars. _I wonder if that comet is there… Probably not. Dad _did_ say it moved extremely fast… And besides, a lot of comets don't come back around for another hundred years or so…_ I heard Cora give a sigh as we stared at the crescent moon in front of us.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah… I-it kind of reminds me of the time in the junkyard at Hamegg's…" I said without thinking. I froze, only just then realizing what I'd said. _Oh, please let her not have heard that!_ I pleaded in my head. _Please, please, _please_ let her not have been paying attention!_

_"What_ did you just say?" Cora asked slowly, turning to face me.

"I-I, uh…said, um…" I stuttered, trying to think quickly. "Um, I—"

"How could you have known that?!" Cora cried. "Only Astro knew about…"

"Um, I—um…uh…" I stammered, completely at a loss for words.

Cora blanched at me, her mouth wide open. "Seriously! How?!" she nearly shouted.

"I-I-I…" I sighed, looking at the ground. "I…can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?!" Cora screeched.

I swallowed nervously. "It…it's complicated…" I mumbled, rubbing my forehead.

"How can it be _complicated?_ All I asked for was for you to tell me one simple thing, and you reply with 'I can't _tell you'?!"_ Cora cried, standing up in a huff.

"I'm sorry…" I murmured, my head down. "I really can't… Dad told me not to say anything to anyone… Even my friends…"

"Wait…" she said, scratching her chin while crossing her arms and looking upward. "It's…sort of making slight sense. I mean, Astro's sudden death…your sudden appearance…you becoming friends with us…and now you suddenly know what happened when Astro and I were alone at Hamegg's outside…"

I leaned away from her slightly, afraid at what she was going to say.

"…I got it! You're the one who turned him off, _aren't_ you?!"

"WHAT?" I blanched.

"Yeah! Your sudden return means that Astro was no longer needed, and so you ordered to have your father turn him off!" Cora supplied, smiling at her idea. "Yeah! It makes _perfect_ sense!"

My mouth dropped open in horror. "WHAT?!" I cried, jumping to my feet. "Th-that's not what happened! I swear it's not!"

_"Sure_ it's not!" Cora said sarcastically. "Okay then, what _really_ happened?"

I sighed and looked away once more. "Dad's gonna kill me for this…" I looked back up at Cora out of the corner of my eye and sighed once more.

"I'm _waiting…"_ Cora replied impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground.

Taking a deep breath, I began. "Everyone at school was making fun of me and bullying me and making me feel like I was nothing, so when I went home that day, I sat out on the roof of my house and looked at a star and wished that I was human, and then I slowly started turning human, but I didn't know what was going on, and it turns out that the star really wasn't a star, and it was a comet called Erudi's Comet, and now I'm a human," I said all in one breath, panting.

Cora stared at me, seemingly not impressed with my story. "That is _the_ most _stupidest_ excuse I have _ever_ heard."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know," I said glumly. "I wouldn't believe it either if it weren't me that was turned into a human…" Suddenly, an idea struck me. "But I _can_ prove it to you!" I said, grinning.

Cora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I seriously doubt that," she scoffed.

"No, no—here, look!" I took out my cell phone from my pocket and pointed my finger at it. "Watch!"

She rolled her eyes again, but watched the phone. A few moments passed with nothing happening. Cora opened her mouth to say something—when suddenly the blue light swirled around my hand and traveled down my finger and into my phone.

"You're…you're… How—what—_huh?!"_ Cora stammered, her mouth agape.

Once the energy was inside the phone—like before—it glowed bright blue, beeped once, and the glow disappeared. I suddenly staggered on my feet, my eyelids heavy. Cora quickly caught me as I fell, my eyes closing. Before I passed out, however, I heard her whisper, "…Astro…?"

* * *

"Finally! I have found the way to protect the insides of the robot!" Hamegg guffawed, standing before his creation hanging up from the ceiling. There in front of the genius hung a slightly tan, boy robot with short, scruffy-looking red hair, wearing only a black pair of shorts with a red strap and bright orange boots.

"So, it's done?" Stone asked, looking intently at the machine in front of him.

Hamegg nodded. "Done. Now all we need to do is charge it up," he rubbed his chin. "…Which will be rather difficult, because we don't have the Blue Core energy, which was the energy the robot was _supposed_ to use."

"Well, then how on earth are we going to do that?!" Stone demanded. "Are we going to steal the Blue Core?!"

"No." Hamegg grinned. "We're going to use the Red Core."

"How? There's no more Red Core!" Stone grunted, frowning.

"You were absorbed by that Peace…whoosa-whatsit robot, weren't ya? You have some in ya," Hamegg replied, motioning with his hand for Stone to come over. "Get over here."

Stone grumbled lowly to himself at the thought of being bossed around, but the idea intrigued him. If he _did_ have some Red Core still left over from the Peacekeeper, then he would most _definitely_ use it on Atlas. "But how was it not destroyed when the Blue Core came in contact with me…or the Peacekeeper?" Stone asked gruffly.

Hamegg gestured to the small computer. "I've done plenty of calculations, Stone, and they all say the same thing. On normal circumstances, your human body would have been destroyed as well when the Blue Core came in contact with the Red Core, but somehow, some of the Red Core preserved you. Now, here's what I want you to do…" He pressed the left side of the robot's chest, where a small door opened. "I want you to hover your finger over this compartment, and concentrate _really_ hard," he instructed.

Stone rolled his eyes but complied, hovering his bony finger over the robot's open compartment. After a moment or two, nothing happened. "You see? You're wrong, there's nothing—" Stone broke off as red energy surged out of his finger and into the robot's chest, where it lit up a bright red, electricity surging all around it as the red energy continued flowing out of Stone's hand. Things began to fly off desks, tables, and shelves as the electricity crackled everywhere. The wind whipped up the papers around in the room, causing them to fly everywhere. Suddenly, the room began to shake as the lightning glow intensified. Hamegg looked away, but Stone was mesmerized by the beauty of the creation. The red lightning swirled around the robot, collecting in a flowing red orb in its chest. The robot twitched a little.

Suddenly, there was a loud _BAM,_ and Stone and Hamegg stumbled backwards, the red lightning gone.

Stone was panting heavily, his limbs trembling, but he stared eagerly at the robot in front of him. A glowing red orb was sitting in its chest, spinning slowly.

"Congratulations, Stone," Hamegg breathed. "You've just recreated the Red Core…"

Stone glanced at the Core that sat in its chest, laughing slowly at first, but his laugh steadily grew into a loud, evil laugh.

Atlas slowly opened his eyes, glowing a bright red before settling as their normal green.

* * *

"Hey. Hey, wake up!"

I groaned, opening my eyes slowly to a blurry blob of black, purple, and brown. "What…?" I groaned sleepily.

"Zane, don't _yell_ at him!" a female voice yelled.

"…You just yelled," the first voice pointed out.

"Ow…my head…" I groaned, sitting up slowly and rubbing the back of it. When my eyes slowly gained their focus, I froze as I felt something sticky on the back of my head. I brought my hand around slowly and gasped. "Uh-oh…" I murmured, looking up at the two kids in front of me. "Um…hi?"

"Are you okay?" Cora asked. "Where's it bleeding?"

"Cora, calm down…" Zane chuckled, rolling his eyes. "All he did was hit his head slightly on the park bench before you caught him… That's what you told me…anyway."

I slowly got to my feet, wobbling a little. Cora reached out to help me, but I regained my balance by myself. "So…uh…I-I guess you told Zane, huh?"

She shrugged and shot a look in his direction. "He doesn't believe me. I _would_ ask you to show him, but I guess you'd probably pass out again."

"Sure, sure," he said, waving his hand through the air. "Whatever you say, Cora. But he looks totally human to me! You aren't fooling anyone!"

Cora face-palmed, groaning. "Is there possibly some _other_ way you could show him?"

I shrugged, still holding onto my head where it was bleeding. "Um…not that I can _think_ of…"

She gasped. "Oh, I know! Tell him things about Hamegg's. Then he'll _have_ to know you're Astro!"

"For the last time, Cora, he's _not—_OW!"

"Would ya shuddup?" Cora growled, elbowing Zane in his ribs.

"No…" Zane winced, rubbing his side.

I sighed. "Zane, here's what we'll do. Ask me any question that you're sure only the _real_ Astro can answer."

Zane looked at me skeptically. "Uh-huh… How do I know you didn't look at Astro's memories?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Because you _can't! _Astro's—_my—_memories were designed to be unable to be read by anyone except for me. Or my dad. Otherwise people could hack into my memory cards easy-peasy!"

"And how do I know—if that's the case—that your dad didn't _show_ you the memories?" Zane challenged.

I slapped my head in frustration. "Why would he show me my own memories if I already _know_ them?" I sighed.

Zane frowned. "…What's the name of our robot dog?"

"Trashcan," I answered.

"Hmm…still not sure… What's the name of the robot _you_ supposedly turned on?"

"ZOG. Believe me now?" I blurted, rolling my eyes.

Zane rubbed his chin. "Before ZOG, there were words on the ground. What did the words say?"

"They said, 'He's a robot'. Trashcan had written them to tell you guys about my robot-ness," I replied.

"Huh… You know, when I think about it, that's really what it said…" Zane tapped his chin.

"Oh, just _believe_ him already!" Cora shouted, her arms in the air.

"How'd you know that's what it said, Zane?" I asked.

"I'm going to school so I can read," he answered.

I smiled. "Oh, yeah, that's right. You put the letters up on ZOG's chest, and it said 'Z-G-O' instead of 'Z-O-G'!" I laughed.

Zane blushed furiously. "That was…an accident…" he mumbled.

"So do you believe me _now?"_ I asked, crossing my arms.

Zane made a face. "I'm…not sure…"

"Oh, for cryin' out _loud!"_ Cora cried, throwing her head back. "Zane, you're IMPOSSIBLE!"

"How can you blame me?!" he objected. "I mean—a robot turning into a _human?!_ That's _way_ unheard of! Not to mention _impossible!"_

"Yeah, but I'm living proof of it!" I said. _"Lit-er-all-y!"_

"I mean, how can wishing on a _star_ make you human?" he continued. "That's just _too_ weird, and impossible."

"Zane!" Cora growled, face-palming again. "You make me _sick…!"_

He shrugged. "You just gotta think of all the possibilities."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, and also when I was sitting at the dinner table at Hamegg's, we had takeout pizza, and Sludge joked it was 'taken out of the trash again' pizza."

Zane held up his hands. "Okay, okay, _fine,_ I believe you now! Happy?"

"YES!" Cora and I both shouted, rather exasperated.

Zane flinched back from our shouts. "Well…! You know, if you somehow still had a _few_ powers left over, I'd believe you even more."

"But I _don't!"_ I said, my voice cracking a little. I cleared my throat. "I don't," I repeated. "All except for the Blue Core still left over in my body…" I shrugged. "That's it."

"And I don't think he wants to show you right now," Cora said. "I mean—he _just_ passed out from showing me and was out for, what, half an hour?"

"Half an hour?!" I cried. "I was?!"

"Yeah, since that was the amount of time it took for Zane to get here." Cora glared playfully at him.

"Hey, I was sleeping. You can't blame me for being woken up, taking the time out of my beauty rest to get here as _quickly_ as possible, all the while half-asleep on your feet," he replied, shrugging.

"Beauty rest… Psssh, yeah right," Cora mumbled, rolling her eyes.

I gave another sigh and rubbed my head again—only to flinch when the back of my head started stinging like crazy when I touched it. "Ow," I hissed, looking at my hand again.

Cora was immediately concerned. "Is your head okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine." I waved her off. "I'll get Orrin to look at it when I get home."

She gave me another look of concern, opening her mouth to say something, but froze as something—or someone—caught her attention. She turned her head and rose an eyebrow. "Who're you?"

Zane and I both turned to look and I gasped, zoning out as the nightmare came back to me.

_A blast of light shot from the figure, hitting me square in the chest and making me fly backwards. I screamed in agony as I landed on my arm, unbearable pain shooting from it. "AH!" I shouted, looking up at the figure. The dust cloud soon began to clear, revealing a teenage boy with a slight orange tan. "Wh-who are you?" I stammered, still holding onto my arm tightly._

_"Atlas." He glowered down at me with a cold smirk._

My eyes widened as I zoned back in on the present. The boy began inching ever so closer to us. "Well, I'll tell you soon enough," he said, his eyes closed, smirking. "But right now, I wish to speak to Toby here."

I rose an eyebrow. _How does he know my name?_

Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes, green flames igniting in his stare as he looked into my eyes. "Hello, Toby," he greeted.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for such a short chapter! But me and Star just finished up Chapter 9, and I promise you the next chapters will be longer! I really do. I counted all the words so far, and there's like 43k words *falls over* and we're not even half done with the story yet! At least...not that I think... Oh! And Dr. Beach and Spritz are made up drinks. Dr. Beach is Dr. Pepper, and Spritz is Sprite, sooo... XDD A lot of stuff in here will be made up, just letting you know. Anyway! I hope you enjoyed, and leave a review! :D


	6. Atlas

**Chapter 6: Atlas **

I backed away from the tan boy, eyes narrowing. "You're…Atlas, aren't you?" I asked.

The boy flinched, clearly shocked. "How the heck do you know my name?!" he cried.

"You _know_ this kid?" Cora asked, looking at me.

I frowned. "I…I saw him in a…nightmare…"

Atlas chuckled. "Nightmare-shmitemare, let's get on with this! Toby, I need to have a word with you, if you please?" he said, motioning for me to come over to him.

I looked back at Zane and Cora. Zane just shrugged. _Well, _you_ aren't much help…_ I hesitantly walked over to him, even though every nerve in my body was screaming to do the exact opposite. I eyed him warily. "What…do you want?" I asked slowly.

"You're the kid who Astro Boy was based off of, weren't ya?" he asked.

I frowned. "Um…yes? Why?"

He shrugged. "Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you knew what happened to him. I'm trying to find him. I need to ask him something…personal," Atlas replied, crossing his arms.

"Well, that's kind of, uh…impossible," I said. "He's dead. Astro got infected by a virus…all his circuits and chips got fried."

"Interesting…" Atlas rubbed his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "So…what was that whole 'I got turned into a human' thing I just witnessed a few moments ago?"

"Um…uh, I, uh…" I broke off, looking back at my friends, and then whispered back to Atlas, "I had to lie to them. They're kinda desperate."

"Uh-_huh,"_ Atlas said, nodding and rubbing his chin. "Sounds interesting. Interesting, indeed."

"So, can I, uh…go now?" I asked pointing my thumb back to Cora and Zane.

He hesitated for a moment, before nodding and waving me off. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Go _right_ ahead. It was nice chatting with you, _Toby."_ And with that, he ran off into the darkness.

Once he was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew… Glad _that's_ over," I breathed, rubbing my head again.

Cora gave a huff. "Okay, _what_ just happened?!" she demanded, crossing her arms. "How did you know who he was, and why he was looking for you?"

"I don't know, Cora," I replied, shaking my head. "I…don't know."

"You said you saw him in a nightmare," Zane remembered, frowning. "What the heck did you mean by that?"

"I…had a nightmare a few nights ago, and he was in it. He was battling me…" I shrugged. "I don't really know. It was kind of weird."

"So, you had a nightmare…and it came true…" Zane breathed.

Cora smacked him over the head. "Leave him alone, would ya?"

"But this could be _bad!"_ Zane continued. "I mean, I dreamed once that Metro City got eaten by _giant purple squids!_ THAT COULD COME _TRUE!"_

Cora placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Oh, _please,_ Zane. Sometimes, I swear you're younger than me, even though you're older by a few months."

"And _proud_ of it!" Zane said, smiling. His pride was short-lived as Cora smacked him again. "Ow!"

I sighed. "Well…I'm pretty beat, and Dad will be wondering where I am—" I broke off, eyes widening. I groaned, face-palming. "Oh, crap, _Dad!_ I-I'll see you later, guys, okay?" I called, starting to run down the path that led out of Metro Park.

"You'd better show up at school tomorrow!" Cora called as I ran.

"I will!" I yelled back. I took my phone out of my pocket and pressed the code that called for Orrin. He would use the phone's GPS system to find me.

Just as I exited the park, the familiar black limo showed up and pulled over next to me. "Hello, Astro," he greeted as I got into the car. "How was your night?"

"Good, good. C-can you just drive me home, please?" I asked hurriedly.

He blinked, but put the car in drive. "Okay, Astro."

I was tense the whole time we drove back, my heart pounding as I thought of Dad. _It's not like he gave me a specific time to be back, _I thought, trying to calm myself. _I've got nothing to worry about…._ I blinked then, suddenly remembering my head had been bleeding. I pulled the back of my head away from the headrest of my seat, and groaned. There was a blood smear. _Great…_

"Is something the matter?" Orrin asked.

"Um…I kinda fell and hit my head, and it's kinda bleeding," I told him.

"WHAT!" he shouted, swerving on the road slightly.

I braced myself by planting my hands on either side of me as he got the car corrected. I relaxed slightly, my heart racing.

"Sorry for the scare, Astro," he apologized.

"It's fine," I mumbled.

"How badly is your head hurt?" Orrin asked me.

I shrugged. "Not too bad…just bleeding a little," I said nonchalantly. We'd finally arrived at the penthouse, Orrin pulling to a stop at the front door. I got out of the car on trembling legs, not at all looking forward to seeing my dad once we reached the top.

Walking as slowly as I could into the building and dreading the speedy elevator ride, I sighed, my hands trembling with nerves. _I've never been this nervous…even when I was _Toby.

As soon as we reached the door to our home, Orrin opened it, and I cautiously walked inside with my head down. "Okay, I'll go get you a wet towel to put on your head, Astro," Orrin said, rolling off towards the kitchen.

I closed the door behind me, holding onto my throbbing head where it was cut, and huffed as I sat on the couch in the living room with a sigh.

"You're back late," I heard my dad say, coming out of the hallway that led to the upstairs.

I looked up. "Yeah…sorry about that… What time is it?" I asked.

"Midnight." Dad crossed his arms. "Mind telling me what happened to result in you being out so late?"

"Um…well, first of all—" I broke off as Orrin came rolling in the room, a smile on his face, and the wet towel over his arm. His smile faded and he jumped as soon as he saw Dad.

"Astro, um…h-hurt his head, Bill," Orrin stammered.

Dad rose his eyebrow. "Is this true?"

I nodded. "I'm holding onto my head, in case you haven't seen."

Dad frowned. "How did you hurt your head?" he asked.

"I…tripped and fell," I mumbled, not wanting to tell him that I'd revealed the truth to Cora and Zane. "I hit my head on a bench."

"A bench?"

"Yeah, Cora and I went to Metro Park for a little while," I said. "We were talking for a long time… Must be why it's so late. Time flies, you know?" I gave a nervous chuckle.

"You were…talking?" he asked. _"Just_ talking?"

"Yeah!" I nodded, taking the wet towel from Orrin and placing it on my wound. "Just talking."

"Then how did you hit your head?"

"Uh…" I looked away, trying to think of the right thing to say. "We were walking, too," I replied. "I just tripped over my feet, I guess. I mean, it _was_ kind of dark."

"I see…" Dad rubbed his chin. "You _sure_ you're telling me the whole truth?"

_"Yes!"_ I cried, exasperated. "What would you think I did if I _was?_ You know me!"

"I know you _too_ well, that's the problem," he murmured. "Well," he cleared his throat. "Off to bed you go. You must be tired. Orrin!"

The house-bot looked up.

"Wrap up Astro's head, would you?" he asked, walking away towards his room.

"Yes, Bill…" he murmured, going back into the kitchen. Orrin came back with a bandage and some adhesive, and checked the back of my head. "Um…" Orrin ruffled through my hair. "Um…I don't see anything."

"Huh?" I turned my head. "What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ there's lots of dried blood and wet blood," Orrin said, "but…no wound."

"…What do you mean?" I asked again.

"I think you might have dipped your hair in blood or something, Astro," Orrin said, rolling away. "Maybe you could go take a shower and wash it off before bed?"

"Good idea. Thanks, Orrin," I replied, taking the wet towel with me as I headed for upstairs.

I suddenly stopped, frowning. "Wait, did you say I _dipped_ my hair in blood?" I asked, turning back to Orrin. "But I—" I broke off as I realized that Orrin had already gone through the kitchen door. I stood there for a few moments, thoughts rushing through my head. _But I didn't do that! I got hit… Was Orrin—no, he can't lie about these things…_ An idea struck me. _Maybe…maybe I can heal really fast! Maybe that's why he didn't see anything!_ I looked around, eyeing the kitchen. _Only one way to find out…_

I hurried towards the kitchen and pressed open a drawer underneath the counter, looking for a knife. _Ah, there's one!_ I thought, grabbing it out of the drawer. I frowned, turning the knife left and right, looking at my reflection on its shiny surface. _I don't want to, but…_ Hesitantly, I slowly cut my thumb with the knife. I winced, letting out a sharp hiss of pain as the knife cut through my skin. Blood began bubbling out from the wound and I winced again, hoping that no one would see me doing this, and also hoping that it would heal—otherwise, I'd have some explaining to do.

After a few minutes of waiting, it still wasn't healing, and I was starting to become dizzy from the amount of blood loss—even if it _was_ from my thumb. I staggered on my feet, but regained my balance, shaking my head. _I have to stay on my feet! I have to stay awake!_ I told myself as I watched the wound. Suddenly, I felt a slight tingle on my thumb. I took the wet towel from before and wiped at the blood that was on my thumb and looked underneath it.

There was no cut.

"Yes!" I almost shouted, pumping my fist in the air. "Whoa!" I exclaimed, realizing I still had the knife in my hand. I dropped it in the sink and let water pour over it. I wiped the rest of the excess blood away from my hand, using the wet towel Orrin had given me.

_Speaking of Orrin…_ I turned around and saw a sleeping Orrin on his charging station. I smiled. _At least he didn't have to freak out over me cutting myself,_ I thought. _Which is good, otherwise he'd probably wake up Dad…_ I set the wet towel on the counter and hurried upstairs to take a quick shower, wash my hair, and go to bed.

* * *

"Did you find Toby?" Hamegg asked.

Atlas rolled his eyes. "Of course I did, father. You would expect me not to?"

"I was just wondering…" he mumbled, turning back to his work on the table. "And what happened exactly?"

"Well, him and these two kids—one with purple highlights and the other with just black hair—were talking to one another in a park or somethin', and—"

"Wait, purple highlights?" Hamegg asked, turning around sharply.

"Yeah, and I noticed she liked punching the other kid." Atlas grinned. "I liked her for that."

Hamegg shook his head. "That was Cora," he said. "You remember what I told you about her? But…why was she with Toby…?"

"I think you'll find something else I overheard _rather_ interesting." Atlas grinned again. "Have you ever heard of Erudi's Comet?"

"Yes, yes, that one comet that supposedly Thomas Erudi said granted his wish to be cured of his disease?" Stone grunted, coming in the room with his arms crossed.

"Well, apparently _Toby_ said he wished on a star that was actually this comet, and his wish came true," Atlas said, eyes closed with arms crossed, smirking.

"And this wish would be…?" Hamegg pushed.

"He wished he was a human," Atlas finished, opening his eyes.

The room was dead silent for what seemed like an eternity. "What," Hamegg finally deadpanned.

Atlas raised his hands. "Hey, I'm only reporting what I heard!" he said in defense, sensing Hamegg's frustration.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Hamegg seethed. "He must have been lying to Cora and Zane…if it _was_ Zane that was with him, that is."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was sensing _looots_ of Blue Core energy around that kid." Atlas shrugged.

"Maybe he had been close to the Blue Core, that's all," Hamegg mumbled, rubbing his chin. "Astro couldn't have become human, that's impossible."

"But that comet grants wishes," Stone said. "…And I missed my chance! Darn it!" He stomped a foot on the ground like a little kid.

Atlas rose an eyebrow. "And _you_ were the President once…" He ignored Stone's furious facial expression and turned back to Hamegg. "And unless the Blue Core _happened_ to be in Metro Park, I doubt that Toby was just _near_ the thing. Especially when the energy was coming _right off him."_

"Did he have it in his pocket?" Hamegg asked.

"I highly doubt that," Atlas sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe it was in his pocket. It had to have been."

"Can't you just _accept_ my report and get _on_ with it already?!" Atlas shouted.

"But your report was—"

"MR. STONE, SIR!" Heckler burst through the door to Hamegg's workshop, panting. "Mr. Stone…" He doubled over, panting and wheezing.

"What is it, man?" Stone growled.

"New…robot…on news…" Heckler gasped out, straightening up. "The Ministry of Science has…created a new robot to…protect the city!"

"Oh, _really?"_ Stone asked. "And what happens to be this _new_ robot's name?"

"Well, they call it, er…'Cobalt', Sir," Heckler answered.

"Cobalt?" Atlas scoffed. "Lamest name I've ever heard."

"Be quiet!" Hamegg growled, walking out of the room to the main floor where the TV was playing the news.

"…Head of the Ministry of Science has created a new robot protector in place of the old hero, Astro," the news reporter continued. "Dr. Tenma says that this protector is the successor to Astro Boy, seeing as how he was destroyed by a virus. No one knows the whereabouts of the robot boy, but Tenma has assured us that the robot skeleton has been disposed of."

"See?" Hamegg said, motioning towards the screen. "They just said Astro was disposed of."

"Be quiet! They're still talkin'!" Stone hollered.

"…Dr. Tenma says that the Blue Core will be used on the robot as precautionary measures, and that it is currently locked away at the Ministry, where it is being highly guarded by dense security. And—"

"And _this_ is why we're going to have _you_ get the Core, Atlas," Hamegg said.

"But the Blue Core was inside the kid!" Atlas protested. "It's nowhere _in_ the Ministry of Science!"

Hamegg rolled his eyes. "If I hadn't built you myself, I would say you were lying or defaulting. But…" He looked at the TV screen, suddenly lost in thought.

"…And now we go back to Dr. Tenma at the Ministry of Science," the reporter continued, the TV switching over to show Tenma's face on screen with the surroundings of a room behind him.

"Yes, the Blue Core is in fact going to only be used as precautionary measures as the robot's second power source," he explained. "We're going to see whether the robot can fully function correctly without it first, but for right now, the Core is locked up safe and tight in the room behind me," he said, turning and indicating the room. "After this report is finished, we'll lock it up safe and tight, so not even a mouse can make it through."

"Look, see? The Blue Core's light is _behind_ the door. You can see it!" Stone growled, pointing at the screen.

Atlas narrowed his eyes. "No…those are special effects," he replied. "If it were the Blue Core, it would be glowing a little differently, I think."

"What makes you so sure about that?!" Stone pointed a finger at Atlas's chest. "You haven't even _seen_ the Blue Core!"

Atlas glared at him, his green eyes blazing with fury. "I see the _Red_ Core! The _Red_ Core glows differently than anything else that's _red!_ So I _would_ know!" he growled, coming nose to nose with the former president.

"Calm down, Atlas," Hamegg ordered. "Let's presume your report is true—"

"Which it _is!"_ Atlas interrupted.

"—And the Blue Core _is_ inside Toby, and Astro _did_ turn into a human…" Hamegg continued as if Atlas hadn't said anything. "This means we can kill Astro _much_ more easily!"

"But what about that 'Cobalt' robot?" Heckler pointed out, gesturing to the screen. An image of the robot had appeared; a tall, black and red machine with a nearly human-like face, and two horns on top of its head.

"If that Cobalt robot actually _does_ exist, then why not use the Blue Core on him first?" Hamegg wondered.

"Good question," Stone acknowledged. "I mean, if he's supposed to be the new hero, shouldn't he have a _good_ heart?"

"If he can't work properly without the Core, then they'll use it, they said," Hamegg interjected.

"Oh, for _CRYIN' OUT LOUD!" _Atlas shouted. "The Blue Core. Is. In. _TOBY!" _He gave a growl of frustration and stomped out the front door.

_Stupid humans won't listen to me,_ he thought, turning his head to Metro City floating peacefully in the sky. _Stupid… But I'll show them. I'll prove that I'm right._ A dark grin slowly spread across his face. _I'll prove it by finding Toby…and killing him _and_ his precious Blue Core with my Red Core. _Then_ Hamegg will believe me! And I'll have done what they'd built me for in the _first_ place!_

A laugh escaped Atlas's mouth and he shot into the air towards Metro City, where just behind the tall buildings and the mountain behind that, the sun had just begun to rise…

* * *

"Astro! Time for school!"

I jolted awake, snorting slightly as my eyes opened to the bright sunlight shining in my room. I pushed myself up with my hands and looked at the bed. I had been lying flat on my stomach, one leg and one arm off the side of the bed, the covers pushed to the very bottom. _Wow, I must've had trouble sleeping…_ I thought as I got up from bed. Looking down, I realized that I had kept my shoes and clothes on from last night, and winced slightly. _Oops… I forgot I'm not supposed to have shoes on in bed…_ I shrugged. _Oh, well. No harm, no foul, I guess._

I changed out of my clothes from yesterday and put on fresh ones, walking into the bathroom to brush my teeth. "Oh, _there's_ my blue jacket," I said, picking it up off the floor, remembering how I'd searched high and low for it yesterday.

I quickly brushed my teeth and spiked my hair again, and then ran down the stairs two at a time, nearly ramming into Dad at the bottom. "Whoops, sorry, Dad!" I called as I hurried towards the door to grab my bag.

"Astro, aren't you forgetting something?" he asked.

I paused, turning around and looking at my clothes. Nope; I looked at my shoes. Nope; hair? Nope. I shrugged. "I don't think so?"

He pointed at something at the corner of the staircase, hidden by shadow. I headed over to examined it and gasped when I realized that it was the backpack with my suit inside. "Really? I-I thought—"

"I made the announcement last night, once you left," he explained. "You can carry it around now."

"Well, gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, hefting it on my shoulders, but was surprised when it wasn't as heavy as before. "What…?" I furrowed my brow.

"I made a little adjustment to the suit so it wouldn't be as heavy in its backpack form," he explained again with a smile.

"Oh!" I grinned. "Can I put things into it too, now?"

"Yes." He smiled. "I made an extra compartment on the back so you can put in your school books, and they will stay there even if you transform. I thought it might be a little hectic collecting your scattered school books every time you turned on your suit."

"Wow, thanks, Dad!" I said joyously. "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome, son." Dad smiled again. "Now go eat breakfast. Orrin's made you oatmeal."

"Augh, gross…!" I groaned, but sighed, heading towards the kitchen and plopping down at my seat.

Orrin set the bowl in front of me and I began eating it slowly. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. I shrugged, continuing to eat the mushy oatmeal. I eyed the sugar on the table, and after a split second of deciding, I grabbed it and dumped it onto my oatmeal. I took another bite. "Mmm, tha's be'er," I said with my mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, son," Dad said, pulling on his lab coat. "I'm off to work. See you later, Astro! Orrin!"

I swallowed my food before replying. "Bye, Dad!"

He smiled as he walked out of the room and soon out of the apartment. I hurriedly stuffed the rest of the oatmeal in my mouth before I got up from the table and hurried back to my regular bag, pulling all my books and stuff out of there and pushing them inside the bag with my suit inside. _Wish I could fly to school,_ I thought, pulling on my backpack. _But that would attract too much attention…_

"Are you ready to go, Astro?" Orrin asked, wheeling up to me.

I nodded. "Yep! Ready." I grinned.

Once we were outside the apartment building, Orrin and I both got into the limo and we began our way towards the school. It took only a few minutes, but when I finally arrived, I smiled, got out of the car, and waved to Orrin as he drove away.

"Hey, Toby!"

I turned to see Reno coming up to me. "Hey, Reno," I greeted, my hands gripped tightly on my straps, being careful not to press the button.

"You got a new backpack?" he asked, eyeing the bag on my back.

I nodded. "Yeah, the, um…other one was getting a little worn, I guess," I said, thinking quickly. Reno grinned.

"Ast—I-I mean, Toby!" I heard someone call behind me. I turned to see Cora running up, waving. "Hi, how're ya doing, good? I'm good! Who's your friend?" she asked all in one breath.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "What's got _you_ all excited?"

Cora blushed. "Zane got me coffee with caffeine this morning," she growled.

"Well…I'm sorry," I chuckled, motioning towards Reno. "This is Reno. He's new here. I accidentally bumped into him the other day."

He smiled at Cora and stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, er…?"

"Cora. My name's Cora," she said.

"Right…Cora…" He chuckled nervously. Once their handshake was done, he scratched the back of his head. "Wow…I'm not used to having this many people around me…"

Cora and I looked at each other. "There's only two of us," I pointed out.

Reno blushed. "I-I don't get out much," he said shyly.

"Hey, Cora, wait up!" Zane called, puffing up next to us. I looked at him, just noticing that his arm cast was off. "I knew I shouldn't have given you that coffee…" He blinked as he realized there was someone else. "Oh, hello."

"This is Reno," I said. "Reno, this is Zane."

Zane and Reno shook hands. "Hi," they said at the same time.

"I just noticed your arm cast is off," I said to Zane.

He grinned. "Yeah, my arm is all better now."

"So these are your friends, huh?" Reno asked with a smile.

"Yeah, they're really nice once you get to know them," I replied, smiling back.

"Not Zane, though, 'cause he's just a pushover," Cora giggled.

I rose an eyebrow. "Maybe you should…go drink some water, or something?"

"No, I'm good, but thanks though," she said, hiccupping. "Oops, haha!" Another hiccup.

"Dude…" I turned to Zane. "What did you _put_ in her _drink?"_

Zane gave a sheepish grin. "Not my fault for misreading the label on the coffee container," he mumbled. He thought for a moment. "Well, actually that _does_ make it my fault, doesn't it?"

I rose an eyebrow and laughed along with everyone else. Cora continued hiccupping, which caused all of us to laugh harder.

"Man, I haven't had a good laugh in a _long_ time!" Reno laughed. "This is _classic!"_

Zane wiped a tear from his eye while laughing as Cora hiccupped again.

The bell suddenly rang, and we looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Class!" we cried at the same time—then cracked up again.

"See you later, guys!" I said, heading into the building. "Let's meet back up at lunch!"

"Sounds good to me!" Cora said, hiccupping one more time.

As I headed inside, quickly hurrying to my locker and grabbing my physics book, I smiled. _Today seems like it's off to a great start,_ I thought as I headed to Mr. Mustachio's class. Once I entered the room and sat down in the desk that scanned my DNA, I set the bag gently on the ground, trying to be careful not to bump the button.

"Good morning, class." Mustachio entered the room. "How are we all doing today?"

There was a murmur of 'Fine!', 'Great!', and 'Ehh's from the class.

Mustachio chuckled. "So I assume you wouldn't mind turning to page 59 of your physics book, please?" There was a ruffling of pages as the students turned to the page the teacher requested. Before Mustachio could say anything else, though, there was a knock at the door.

_Knock… Knock… Knock, knock, knock… BAM!_

The students began to panic as a robot with orange and black armor burst through the door, red electricity crackling between the power antennas on his helmet. "Knock, _knock!"_ he said, smirking.

I stared, mouth agape, quickly grabbing my backpack and hoisting it up as I stood up. The students began running away and out the door with terror.

"Hehehe…" he chuckled, staring straight at me and aiming his arm cannon for my head. "Ohhh, _Tooooobyyyy…_ It's time to _PLAY…!"_

* * *

**A/N:** Now that is both creepy and interesting at the same time! Poor Toby! Let's hope he wins! *prays* XD jk of course he's gonna win! ...right? ...RIGHT? Meh, forget it XDD Review!


	7. Cobalt

**Chapter 7: Cobalt **

The school was in pandemonium. Students were running everywhere, teachers trying to calm everyone and failing, and Atlas destroying every part of the school with his guns, as they missed _me_ by mere inches.

Why wasn't I fighting him? Because he had my suit. He was carrying it on his shoulder, taunting me with it.

"Why so attached?" he sneered, firing another burst of energy at me. "Is your _dolly_ in here?"

I quickly dodged the burst of energy. "Give it _back,_ Atlas!" I shouted.

"Aww, the wittle baby wants his _dolly!"_ Atlas laughed.

_This is almost as bad as Josh and his cronies…but maybe ten times worse!_ I thought.

Atlas fired again at me, making the ceiling above me collapse. I dodged just in time, the rubble making a huge dust cloud.

I coughed a little as the dust entered my lungs. _Okay, maybe a _hundred_ times worse,_ I thought, correcting my former estimate.

Atlas laughed coldly, firing his cannon straight at my chest. "AHH!" I screamed, flying straight back and hitting the wall behind me. I struggled to get up, only to gasp in pain as my arm throbbed. I looked down at it. The elbow was bent back the wrong way. "Eugh!" I exclaimed in disgust. Every single part of my body screamed with pain as I struggled to my feet, holding onto my arm with a snarl on my face as Atlas walked up to me slowly.

Atlas smirked. "Tell me…how does it feel to be _weak?"_ he asked, walking towards me again, but even slower this time. "To be as helpless as one of those miserable creatures you call humans? Why did you even turn yourself into one, I wonder?" He grabbed the front of my shirt, his green eyes glowering maliciously. "Didn't you know something like this" —he gestured around us— "would happen if you did? Wonder why you didn't," he laughed coldly.

"Put me down!" I grunted, struggling in his grasp, while trying not to jostle my arm.

"Not until you learn your lesson, _Astro Boy,"_ he hissed, a dark flame flickering in his eyes.

I gasped. _This is just like my nightmare! Oh, no…!_

"You're weak…_very_ weak. You were special before, and now you're no one. You may think you are, but you're not," he continued.

"That's not true!" I hissed. "I'm someone! I'm _Toby!"_

"Haha, right," he snickered, his fist clenching tighter. "You're _Toby…_ Well, I'll have you know, _Toby,_ that your life is soon coming to an end."

I kicked and squirmed, trying to get out of his iron grip, but it didn't work. I glanced towards my bag that was over his shoulder still.

Atlas laughed. "How pathetic! Why do you even _try?_ You aren't _powerful_ anymore, Astro." He grinned. "I'm more powerful than _you_ now!"

"GAH!" I shouted as he jostled my arm. I tried to summon up my arm cannons, but remembered I didn't have any anymore.

Atlas gave a cold laugh. "Good luck, _Toby!"_ he chided, grabbing my throat.

I began suffocating for breath, scrambling in his hold on my neck. _I have to…reach my backpack somehow…!_ I thought, as I continued choking. I kicked at Atlas's torso, but he was unfazed by my feeble attempt. My cheeks were turning purple as I tried to breathe, stars shooting before my eyes. I hardly felt the snap in my arm, as the bones bent back to their original place and fixed themselves—all I _could_ pay attention to was my backpack. A desperate plea entered my mind.

I closed my eyes and lolled my head back, pretending as best as I could to be dead.

Atlas let out a cold laugh to the sky and dropped me to the ground. "Finally! Now my father will be _proud_ of me for doing what I was programmed to do!"

_Father?_ I thought as I continued pretending, breathing shallowly and trying not to let him know I was still alive. _Wonder who his father is…_

I heard rummaging as Atlas spoke once more. "I wonder why he was so attached to this bag…" he murmured. I heard loud _thunks_ and _clatters_ as he spilled the contents of my bag onto the ground.

"Pfft, just some school books and journals," he scoffed. "Some attachment." Atlas tossed the backpack on my limp form, snorting.

I cracked open my eyelids and saw him walking away, pride puffing up his chest. I slowly grabbed the backpack and slipped my arms into the sleeves, and then pressed the button.

The suit was instantly activated, covering my arms, legs, body, and face. I stood up, turning my head to Atlas's retreating form. "HEY!" I shouted.

Atlas whirled around, his jaw slackening when he saw me. "What…? Where'd _you_ come from?!" he growled, looking around wildly, his eyes scanning around the room I stood in. "Hey, where'd Toby go?!"

"None of your business," I growled, summoning up my arm cannons and firing at Atlas. Atlas was blown back into a wall, rubble falling around him. I stepped slowly over to him, the blue screen in my eyesight declaring that he was my target. As he slowly began getting up, red electricity amplified around his antennas on his helmet. My screen beeped rapidly, a red box with an exclamation point over Atlas's form. The words 'RED CORE DETECTED' displayed on screen. _What?!_ I shouted in my head, eyes widening as I was blown back into the room.

Atlas charged once more, the red electricity becoming stronger around him. He gave a roar as he threw a punch at me. I dodged it, punching him in the face and kicking him in the chest with my large boot. He flew backwards again, this time further than before, out of the ruined school building. I took off into the air, spotting Atlas on the road, getting up slowly.

"You're…who they call Cobalt, aren't you?" he grunted, holding onto his side.

"That's right," I confirmed, pointing at him. "And I'm here to give you a _piece of my mind_ for killing that little boy! His father will be so devastated!"

Standing up straight, Atlas motioned for me to come at him. I growled, charging towards him, but he quickly dodged to the side, causing me to smack face first into the pavement. "Ow…!" I groaned, propping myself up with my hands and knees, and looking to the left. As soon as I did, however, I was immediately met with an orange boot to the face. I flew ten feet away, rolling over and over until I finally came to a stop on the green lawn of the wrecked school building.

I gave a groan and pushed myself up, turning my head to see Atlas standing a few feet away from me, looking at me with scrutinizing eyes. "Why do you even care about them?" he hissed. "The humans? All they are, are weaklings—miserable creatures that have to use other things to protect themselves. _We_ are more powerful than them—_they_ should be serving _you,_ instead of _you_ serving _them."_

I glared up at Atlas, slowly rising to a standing position. "That's never going to happen, Atlas," I growled. "I'm never going to betray my city, my friends, or my family."

Atlas threw back his head and laughed. "Your _family! _Robots don't have _family!_ They have _creators!_ My father is just my creator—I call him that to make him feel better about himself," he chuckled.

"And who _is_ your creator?" I asked.

He laughed again. "Nice try, rust bucket," he replied. "You ain't getting that info outta me!" He activated his rockets, flying into the air and grinning madly. "Now, are we going to just _stand_ here and talk all day, or do some _action?"_ he called down to me, cracking his knuckles. "I've got a whole city to destroy, and I haven't got all day!"

I gasped, and rolled to the side quickly as he fired where I once was. I activated my rockets and flew up into the air. He looked after me with hatred, aiming his cannons at me again. Just as he was about to fire them, I flew downward at him quickly, spinning rapidly in circles. The energy blast he had fired bounced right off of me and landed somewhere else as I dove straight for Atlas. Once I had hit him, he was pounded into the ground by my spinning attack. I flew back up and looked at him. Atlas was groaning in a ten foot by twenty foot, deep hole, his eyes closed.

I narrowed my eyes, half expecting Atlas to wake up suddenly and start attacking me again, but he stayed in that position for a while. I slowly drifted down, landing at the edge of the hole. Had I defeated him already?

_Too easy,_ I thought. _Something's wrong…_

Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he shot out of the hole, red electricity shooting at me. "AHH!" I shouted, trying to fly away, but I couldn't manage to get away in time. The lightning bolts grabbed a hold of me, causing my suit to sound off alarms. On my blue screen, it read, 'SYSTEM SHUTDOWN EVIDENT, PLEASE CONSULT MANUAL'. I frowned. _What the…? This thing has a _manual?

The suit suddenly became extremely heavy, the rockets sputtering to a stop. I fell to the ground below me with a _FWUMP!_ Luckily I hadn't been that far from the ground in the first place. I couldn't move anything; the suit was too heavy. The screen had turned off, the whirring noise it usually made when it was on had ceased. "Stupid…piece of…junk!" I growled, gritting my teeth and trying to move my limbs.

"Well, well, well!" Atlas chuckled, coming over to me slowly and wiping his hands off in front of him. "What do we have here? A piece of junk, you say? Wow, I didn't know you thought so little of your own _body!"_

"Get away from me, Atlas," I threatened. "Don't make me hurt you!"

"Oh-ho-ho!" he chuckled again. "I'm _soooo_ scared!"

"Atlas…" I growled warningly. "I'm warning you!"

"If you were _really_ warning me, you'd get off the ground and actually _threaten me."_ Atlas smirked. "Not that your threats make any effect on me."

I wanted to scream in frustration as I tried to get up. Why did my dad make this suit so darn _heavy?!_ Suddenly, the blue screen lit up again and the whirring noise came back, and I smiled. _Yes!_

"So!" Atlas laughed, crossing his arms. "I'm still waiting for you—Sir—to make an effort."

I shot to my feet and grabbed Atlas by the throat, throwing him into the side of the school, where he flew through it and out the other side. I shot up into the air and to the other side of the building, where I saw a deep trench made by Atlas where I'd thrown him. "I warned you!" I called down.

Atlas propped himself onto his elbows, wincing slightly. "I seriously did not expect _that,"_ I heard him mumble to himself. He glowered at me. "Fine! You win this round, _Cobalt,"_ he hissed, flying into the air and pointing at me. "Don't expect to get off so easily _next_ time." As he turned to fly away, he paused, spinning back around. "Oh, and could you do me a favor? Could you tell Astro I expect more out of him the next time we fight?" He grinned, spun around, and burst away towards the distance.

I flinched when he'd said my name. _How the heck did he know it was me?!_ I thought, my mind racing. I hovered there for a few more moments, staring at where Atlas had been, before looking down at the school building. It was completely and utterly demolished. Rubble was everywhere, covering the classrooms and the grassy fields around it, the pavement leading to the school cracked in some places. I landed in front of the school, scanning it three times before I was satisfied.

_Good, there's no one trapped in it,_ I thought, relieved. _But how will I see Cora, Zane, and Reno now? Now that we can't go to school… It's ruined…_ I sighed.

Suddenly, I heard cheering behind me and I whipped around, seeing dozens of school kids and teachers running up to me, their hands in the air and smiles on their faces. I was suddenly lifted into the air by a few of the older kids in grades above me.

"Cobalt! Cobalt! Cobalt!" they cheered.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, as I was picked up. How were they carrying me? I had _no_ idea. I just laughed and smiled, going along with it as they cheered my new hero name. _I can get used to this!_

* * *

_"WHAT?!"_ Hamegg cried, his hands out in front of him. "How _dare_ you disobey my orders!"

"I killed the kid like you programmed me to," Atlas said with a disdainful sniff, now out of his armor from before.

"I didn't want you to kill _TOBY!"_ he cried. "I said _ASTRO!"_

"How many more times do I gotta tell ya, the kid _is_ Astro!" Atlas growled.

Hamegg ran his fingers through his hair, growling. "I don't believe this." He shook his head. "Robots aren't supposed to hurt humans! How you were able to do that without question…"

"Must be the Red Core inside of me," Atlas said nonchalantly, shrugging. "Just like the Blue Core's inside the kid."

"For the last time—"

"WILL YOU JUST _LISTEN_ TO ME FOR ONCE?!" Atlas shouted. Hamegg grew silent as Atlas continued. "I have the Red Core inside me, so I can detect the Blue Core. For the last time—I'm _not_ gonna say it again—I detected high levels—albeit faint—of Blue Core energy inside the kid," he said, crossing his arms.

Hamegg frowned. "Mmhmm…"

"As much as you think it's impossible," Atlas continued, "it _happened!"_

Hamegg rubbed his stubbled chin, opening his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"It's true," Stone grumbled, coming inside the room. "I checked up on it all the while hacking into the Ministry's security files. What Atlas says is true; the comet grants wishes."

Hamegg looked at Stone with reproachful eyes, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "But _how?"_ he wondered. "How would it do something like that?"

"Maybe you could upgrade my rockets," Atlas suggested. "Let me go into space and find it."

"That's…actually not a bad idea," Hamegg grunted, an idea forming in his mind. "Alright, Atlas. I'll upgrade your rockets."

"Yes!" he laughed, pumping his fist.

"But did you _really_ kill Tob—Astro?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Atlas snorted. "Of course I didn't," he said. "Who do you think Cobalt is? That robot is a _suit,_ father. It makes perfect sense! When Astro realized that he was a human, he still had that stupid desire to keep protecting that lousy city, so his dad obviously made a suit for him!"

"No kidding!" Hamegg chuckled slightly. "That makes so much more sense now… But wait, how did you know that there was Blue Core energy around Astro? If he were a human now, he wouldn't have it anymore, right?"

"I can't really say for certain, but I believe it's dissolved into his body," Atlas replied.

"Dissolved?" Hamegg echoed. "Interesting…"

"So…about those rockets?" Atlas pressed.

Hamegg nodded. "Yes, yes, in a moment, Atlas. I've got to find the right sort of tools first," he said. "We don't know how fast that comet is going. Stone?" Stone jerked his head up. "When you hacked into the Ministry of Science's database, what did you find out about the comet?"

"I found out that the comet is going faster than the speed of light, which is impossible. But the problem is, is how that man—Erudi—could see it with his naked eye… If it were going faster than the speed of light, then he wouldn't be able to see it…" Stone shrugged. "My guess is that it appears as a star, which is how people get their wish, but once the wish is done, the comet spirals away, or something to that effect."

"Interesting theory, Stone," Hamegg mumbled with a smile.

"Soo…how the heck am I supposed to _catch_ it?" Atlas asked bluntly. "Or when does it come back around to Earth?"

"The computer didn't know, because they couldn't catch its cycle, or whatever," Stone said. "But the last time it was seen was in the year 2109, or something…"

"And right now the year is…?" Atlas pressed.

"It's 2165," Stone answered.

Atlas growled to himself. "So the cycle is every _56 years?!"_

"Hmmm…maybe it is, and maybe it isn't," Hamegg said.

"What do you mean?" Atlas growled.

"I _mean_ that since it goes faster than the speed of light, obviously the cycle would be less than a month. Even a _day_ maybe," Hamegg replied, waving his hand while he talked. "The last time it was _sighted_ was in 2109, which means it could've been around _much_ more times than that."

"Oh…" Atlas's eyes widened and he ran out of the workshop and out of Hamegg's hideout. He glanced up at the sky and pouted. "Crap, it's noon," he sighed sulkily.

Heading slowly back inside, Hamegg crossed his arms. "You expecting something?"

Atlas looked away with a dark look. "No." He turned to look back outside for one more moment. "Hmm…" he mumbled, mind whirling. "Think it could grant wishes even when it's midday?"

Hamegg was surprised. "Er, I don't know… Uh—"

Atlas had already run outside again, turning his head this way and that, using his keen eyes to spot any sort of star—besides the sun, that is. "I wish the comet would come to me and land right at my feet!" he shouted.

Nothing happened. He gave a groan of frustration—when suddenly he heard a rumbling sound coming from above him. "AHH!" he shouted as the comet blazed down, landing faster than you could say 'cheese'. Atlas flinched, waiting for the impact to come, but surprisingly, there was no explosion of impact. He turned around slowly and gasped. It was _HUGE!_ Waves of water vapor were coming off of it, and inside the holes and around the outside, a bright blue glow was waning on and off, like there was something inside it.

Atlas smirked. "Haha, priceless!" he laughed.

"WHAT WAS THAT—OH, _LORD!"_ Hamegg screamed as he saw the comet in front of Atlas, ten times bigger than ZOG.

Atlas turned around, his face split into a wide grin. "Made a wish!" he cackled, turning back to the comet. "Now let's see what's inside this thing… What makes it tick!" He drew back his arm, and then threw it forward with a grunt and all of his might.

A crack appeared under the blow, running up and down the middle of the comet. The large stone burst into two halves, showing a bunch of strange rocks on the inside, all glowing a bright blue. Atlas smiled, his eyes shining as he gazed at the jewels. "They look like they're worth a fortune!" he laughed, leaning down and picking one up. As soon as he opened his mouth, the jewel's glow went out. "What?" Atlas looked back down at all the jewels, and gasped as they all went out one by one.

"Now look what ya did, you _idiot!"_ Stone growled, smacking Atlas upside the head, but retracted back as soon as his hand began throbbing.

Atlas turned back to Hamegg with an innocent smile. "Well, at least we knew what made it tick… Hehe…"

Hamegg just frowned.

"Do I still get that rocket upgrade?" he asked sheepishly.

* * *

I fell onto my bed with a huff, throwing the backpack off to the side, ignoring the clatter that it made when it hit my closet door. Today had been _hectic._ First, I had to fly away from the crowd, then take off my suit, and sneak back to school and show everyone that I was still alive—which caused yet _another_ celebration unlike the one before. Cora, Zane, and Reno tried to get me away from the crowd, but didn't succeed, because then my _dad_ came and picked me up, and continued pestering me with questions like, 'Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you defeat the robot?' and other things.

I sighed, letting out a long breath as I closed my eyes, the claw-like moon shining its light down into my room. I had never realized that saving the city was so hard…but maybe that was because I was a robot before, and didn't feel the exertion from everything. Of course, I hadn't told my dad about my broken arm, otherwise he would've _freaked out._ I decided I would tell him about it tomorrow, before school started—the teachers had explained to me that we would have school in a temporary building while the original one was getting fixed.

I sighed once more, slowly drifting off to sleep…

_I was in a dark room, hardly any light anywhere. I heard voices, but they were muddled and disoriented. A laugh broke me out of my slight trance, and a sudden force knocked into me. I was rammed through a wall, and into thin air. I was falling…falling…falling…_

"GYAAAAAAHHH!" I jerked upright into a sitting position, sweat rolling down my face, my heart beating a thousand miles per hour. I clutched my chest, my eyes wide with panic. _Was that…another nightmare?_ I wondered, wiping the sweat from my forehead. After a moment or two, I got up and walked slowly towards the window, wondering why there wasn't any light whatsoever.

Suddenly, I was met with Atlas's face in place of mine, and he was laughing darkly at me, his eyes a bright, electrifying red.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, sitting back up in bed. I whipped my head left and right, pinching myself to make sure it wasn't another dream.

_A nightmare within a nightmare?_ _But what did it all mean? What's gonna happen to me?_

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, sorry for the wait. We had taken a little break, me and Star. But nonetheless, here's chapter 7! We're also both currently working on an epic three-way crossover fic... Don't worry, that won't jeopardize this story!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! :D Leave a review!


	8. The Last Wish

**A/N:** Well, here's the next chapter! I couldn't wait to get this one out, so that means that chapter 12 hasn't been written yet. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Last Wish **

"Mmmm…" My head rolled forward, my eyelids drooping. I banged my forehead on the kitchen table, jerking my head back in surprise. "OW!" I yelped.

"You alright, son?" Dad asked, concerned, looking up from his newspaper.

I nodded. "Y-yeah, fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night…" Actually, in truth, I'd hardly gotten _any_ sleep after I'd had that nightmare. I was still trying to figure out what it all meant. Since my last nightmare I'd had came true, it was beginning to bother me that this one would come true as well.

I tiredly tried sticking a spoonful of cereal into my mouth, but instead of the spoon going in my mouth, I jarred it into my eye. "OW!" I exclaimed, dropping the spoon into the bowl, milk and cereal bits clattering all over the table. I held onto my eye with the palm of my hand.

"Astro?" Dad asked, looking up again.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," I reassured him, wiping my eye with my napkin.

Dad looked at me with an uncertain look, but continued reading his newspaper.

I picked up my spoon again and made _sure_ that it went into my mouth this time. As I chewed my cereal, my thoughts traveled back to that nightmare I'd had.

I'd been falling, that's for certain. But before that, I'd been in a really dark room with other people with me. Well, I assumed it was other people, unless the murmuring noise was a radio or…something…like…

_PLOP!_ My head had fallen into my cereal bowl.

"Astro!" Dad exclaimed.

I jerked my head up quickly, milk and cereal streaming down my face and onto my clothes. "Yeah…?" I asked, my eyes still closed.

"Er…go take a cold shower. That'll wake you up," he coughed awkwardly.

"Sure…Dad…" I yawned, getting up sleepily and heading to the stairs, nearly tripping up them as I made my way to my room. Once I entered my bathroom, I sleepily took off my milk-stained clothes, setting the temperature of the shower to freezing.

Yeah, I definitely hadn't been thinking clearly that morning.

"HOLY CRAP, THIS IS COLD!" I yelped as the cold water dumped down on me from the spout at the top. My eyes widened as I turned it to hot quickly.

Yup, _definitely_ not thinking clearly.

"OW, OW, OW, OW, OW! HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!" I screamed, turning it towards the middle. Once the water had cooled down, I sighed with relief. _Much better…_

I heard a knock at the door. "Are you alright in there, son?" my dad's muffled voice called through the door.

"Yeah, fine!" I called back. "I'm fine! Never better!"

After a moment or two, I heard the door to my room shut as Dad left the room. I breathed a sigh of relief. If Dad knew about the nightmare, and about the other one coming true, he would most definitely try and keep me from school and everywhere else. I would be on lockdown for the rest of my life.

The lukewarm water poured over my head as it washed away the sticky milk that was on my face. I sighed, the water soothing my thoughts. Soon, I decided it was a long enough shower, and stepped out, drying myself off and putting on a black t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Almost time for school, Astro!" Dad called.

"Kay, Dad!" I called back, running a comb through my hair and squeezing gel in my hands to get my hair in my signature spikes. Everyone thought they were weird, but it's the way I liked them.

Quickly grabbing my backpack from in front of the closet, I hurried back downstairs and greeted Orrin by the door.

We were soon set on our way to the temporary building—which was just the old Metro High that hadn't been taken down yet. Once I arrived, I looked up at the building in front of me. I realized that this had been someone's home, and that person was renting out an apartment in order for school to resume—albeit _in_ the home.

_I hope they know that these kids will ruin their home, _I thought, stepping up the cracked stone stairs that led to the front doors. _I know I won't. I'm not like that._

"Hey, hey, hey!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

I groaned and turned around, coming face to face with Josh and his cronies. "What do _you_ want?"

Josh scratched the back of his head, looking away sheepishly. "Listen, uh…Toby. I just…well…"

Trevyr elbowed him in the ribs to hurry up, but Josh sent him a death glare and a smack on the back of the head. The teen instantly burned up underneath it.

"I just…want to say sorry," he continued, turning back to me.

"Um…you blow a neuron or something?" I asked, chuckling. "Unless this is all some sort of trick, I—"

"No, no," he assured. "Not a trick. I just wanna say I'm sorry for bullying you, okay? I don't really mean to hurt you and stuff…" He chuckled sheepishly.

I stared, mouth agape. "Okay, well… I don't know how to respond to that, um…"

"You don't have to," Josh said. "This is the last time I'm gonna talk to you. I say sorry, we're through, we're even, goodbye." Josh began walking into the school, followed closely by Trevyr and Nathan.

I stared after the three of them, my mind completely blown. _He just…_apologized _to me?!_ my mind shouted. _What—but—_HUH?!

I was completely at a loss for words, and even my mind wasn't thinking clearly after that.

"Toby!"

I jumped, despite myself, whipping around with my hands in defensive positions, my eyes wide.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, champ," Cora puffed, running up to me.

I sighed, relaxing. "Sorry, Cora. I just had my mind blown. Wasn't thinking clearly," I told her, knocking on my head to emphasize my sentence.

Cora giggled. "Understandable," she said, smiling and crossing her arms. "So how does it feel to be the one saved this time?" she asked with teasing eyes.

I blinked, confused. "Huh?" I grunted, before realizing what she meant. "Oh, oh, right, um—hehe…it's kind of complicated…"

"How?"

"Er…Cobalt is sort of…" I leaned in closer. _"Me."_

Cora stared at me, blinking, trying to process the information. "Wait…so Cobalt is—?"

"A suit," I finished, grinning.

"So…_you're_ Cobalt?" she asked.

I put a finger to my lips, watching as a few kids walked into the school with smiles on their faces, talking to each other. When they were inside, I continued on. "Yeah, since my dad didn't want me saving the world like _this,"_ I said, pointing at myself, "he made me a battle suit."

Cora nodded, her smile fading to a frown. "Where the heck do you keep this…battle suit?" she asked, looking over me.

I took off my backpack and showed it to her. "In this." I grinned again. "Adaptive technology, I guess."

Cora's eyes lit up. "Wow, that is _so_ cool!"

"I know, right?"

"Can I see it—?"

"NO!" I shouted, pulling it away as she reached for it. Cora stared at me with wide eyes and I blinked. "Uh…n-no. Sorry." I pulled the bag back on my shoulders. "Kinda can't. There are…people around."

"Oh…right," she chuckled slightly, breaking from her trance. "Um…well…"

We both stood there, silent for a moment. "I-I've got to, um…" I jerked my thumb in the direction of my class.

Cora nodded quickly. "Y-yeah, same!" She gave a sheepish giggle. "LOTS of stuff to do…"

"Class…"

"Stuff…"

"So I'll see you later?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Um…" I finally mustered up the courage to ask her. "How about, uh, we…go, er…o-on another…d-date?"

Her eyes were wide and she began blushing slightly. "Oh…y-you still remember that, huh?"

"Yeah," I murmured, blushing. "Um…s-so you said you liked me, right?"

She chuckled. "Well…yeah."

"Okay…" I chuckled.

"Class," she giggled, pointing inside.

"R-right." I began walking towards my class, but I was still sort of facing her. "I'll, um, see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay!" Cora walked away to her class.

Once she was out of sight, I jumped into the air, pumping my fist straight up, giving off a silent 'YES!'

A couple more kids walked by, giving me a weird look, and I settled down a bit and scratched the back of my head. "Heh, sorry!" I apologized, chuckling slightly. They just ignored me and continued walking inside. I looked after them and breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone, and walked inside.

The bell rang just as I stepped through the doors. I quickly ran to the only empty desk in the room, which was at the back.

Mustachio clapped his hands together, and the students who'd been talking before went silent. "Now, before we begin," Mustachio said, "there are a few things—"

The lights suddenly went out.

"Oh, _now_ what?" a kid groaned.

I looked around the room, but I could barely see anyone. All I could see were really dark shapes, and there wasn't any light at all, because the room we were in didn't have any windows. Everyone was whispering to themselves or groaning in disbelief. I frowned. _That's strange, why would the lights go out?_

I frowned, trying to think, when suddenly I realized the kids around me were murmuring to each other…in low voices…in a dark room.

My heart stopped. _This is just like my dream!_ I thought, panicked. I gripped the sides of my desk, my palms sweating considerably. _What happened next in the dream again? I got rammed through the wall or something? By what? And then I fell… But this isn't a really tall building… But it _is_ right at the edge of the city!_ I realized. _I-I'm gonna get thrown off the edge of the _city?! _OH, CRA—_

Suddenly, the door was kicked open and everyone began screaming. I saw red electricity, illuminating a slightly orange tanned face—and instantly I knew who it was.

I quickly reached down to grab my backpack, but Atlas surged forward and grabbed me by the front of my black t-shirt. My legs swam through the air as I grabbed at Atlas's hand, trying to break free.

"Well, _hello_ again, _Toby!"_ he chuckled as the kids in the room vanished out the door screaming.

"A-ATLAS!" I hissed, clutching his arm. "Let go of me!"

"Or _what?"_ he leered. "You'll _cry_ on me? You don't have your precious _suit_ anymore, _Toby!"_ He tossed the backpack away and then drew his arm closer to him. "Let's see how well you can fly without it!" He grinned maniacally, blasting a hole in the wall.

Seconds before he threw me, I caught a glimpse of Cora standing in the door, her face pale and eyes wide with shock. I saw her mouth my name…and then suddenly, the only thing around me was sky and clouds…and the Surface, speeding up at me.

"Oh, God, there's no _way_ I can survive this!" I cried as the ground got nearer and nearer. I gave a yell and covered my face with my hands. "IT'S AT TIMES LIKE THESE WHERE I WISH I COULD FLYYYYY!"

* * *

On the Surface, in the pile of gems inside the comet that Atlas had wished would land at his feet, a bright blue jewel floated up into the sky, glowing brightly, and then shattered into a million pieces.

Hamegg whipped his head around from working on something just outside the door, lifting his mask off his face. "Huh?" He turned to look at the comet, but when he didn't see anything in particular, he shrugged, pulling the mask back on, and turned back to his work

* * *

Suddenly, I felt that I was no longer falling, and I slowly and shakily moved my hands away from my face. I gasped when I looked down, the Surface junk just a few feet below my trembling legs. I looked around. _H-how am I…?_ I broke off when I noticed a bright blue glow around my entire body and I gasped again, eyes wide. "Whoa!" I exclaimed.

The glow soon disappeared, and I dropped the last few feet to the Surface. "Oof!" I winced when I landed on my stomach. I got up slowly, coughing a little, looking back up to the city. It seemed so far up…

I stood up fully, looking down at myself. What on _Earth_ just happened?! What had been that blue glow?! _I'd been falling, and then I…_ My eyes widened as I realized what had happened. _I'd made a _wish!

I looked up into the sky, hoping to see the comet that had made my wish come true, but I couldn't see it. I frowned, looking back down at myself. _Okay, now how do I work this? Is it just like—? _"GAAHHH!" I shouted when I suddenly shot into the air, blue energy shooting up from my shoes. "YAAAHHH!" I screeched as I blasted upwards like a bullet. I'd already flown _way_ past Metro City! "WRONG WAY, WRONG WAY!" I cried, diving downwards.

But I had dove too fast.

"This is gonna hurt!" I screamed, covering my face. I fell through the roof of the temporary school building, landing with a loud "OOF!" I lay there for a good minute or so, before I slowly pushed myself up with one arm, looking up. Something wet trickled down my forehead and I touched it with my fingers, flinching back when it stung. I looked at the liquid on my hand and gasped when I realized it was blood. "Whoops…" I murmured, trying to move my legs to stand, but let out a sharp hiss of pain when I noticed that I couldn't move my left leg at all. _Not good… Not good!_

"ASTRO!"

I glanced up to see Cora running towards me, arms outstretched. She flung herself on me, making me yelp. "OW! Ow, Cora…! Kinda hurt here!" I grimaced.

Cora immediately let go. "You're hurt?! Where?! Oh, my gosh, your _leg!_ And your head!"

"Cora, I'm fine. Trust me…I'll be fine," I tried reassuring her.

"You're absolutely _not_ fine!" she exclaimed. "Your leg is broken and there's a _huge_ gash on your forehead!"

"I-I can…heal myself," I said, wincing as Cora helped me to my feet, having me lean on her for support.

"How?"

"The Blue Core… I-it allows me to heal myself," I told her as she brought me over to a wall, where I leaned against it.

"Astro, that doesn't make any…" She stopped, eyes bulging as she stared at my forehead. "…Sense…"

"It healed, right?" I chuckled, amused at her shocked expression.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah…" Suddenly, I heard a slight cracking noise and I winced as the bones in my leg mended back to their original places. Cora winced in disgust. "That's both gross _and_ cool."

"Yeah, no kidding," I scoffed.

An explosion some distance in front of us, alerting us that Atlas was still on the rampage. I turned back to Cora. "I gotta take care of him," I said. "Where's my bag?"

"I-it's kinda…still in the room," she chuckled.

"Oh…" I looked around. "And…how far is that from here?"

"Not too far, just down the hall," she said, pointing.

I nodded, beginning my way to the room, still limping slightly. I made it to the room and cautiously opened the door. The entire roof of the room had been seemingly torn off, rubble covering the desks and the floor. I winced as I looked at the room. _Looks like we're going to need another school,_ I thought grimly. _Again…_

There was no sign of Atlas, so I crept my way into the room, searching desperately for my backpack. I soon found it and grabbed it, picking it up. Just as I was about to slip my arms through the straps, I was forced back into a wall, smacking my head on the plaster. "OW!" I yelped, falling to the ground and holding onto my head. I had just dropped my bag…_again._ I glanced up to see Atlas walking slowly through a hole he had just made through the wall.

"Well, well, well!" he said. "I don't know how you managed to get back up here, _or_ how you survived that fall, but I'm going to have _pleasure_ in killing you."

"You can't kill a human, idiot. It's against the Laws of Robotics." I scowled.

Aiming a cannon at my face, he smirked. "I don't _follow_ the rules." Atlas shot at me and I quickly jumped out of the way. "Quit movin'!" he growled, shooting at me again.

This time, I was unable to dodge the blast and I was blown into a pile of desks, whamming my elbows into them. I looked down at myself, noticing that my shirt and pants were beginning to smoke, holes forming. "Hey! This was a new shirt!" I exclaimed.

"Maybe ya shouldn't have worn it today," he sneered.

"How the heck was _I_ supposed to know you were gonna try to kill me today?" I growled.

"Quit complainin', baby!" he snarled, firing at me again.

"AHHHH!" I screamed, covering my face. I felt the explosion below me and I uncovered my eyes to look. The blue energy from before was back, propelling me up from underneath my shoes.

"You can fly by _yourself_ now?" Atlas grunted. "Hmph. Now I know how you got back up here, at least."

Like a machine gun, Atlas continued to fire barrages of energy at me. I weaved and dodged through the waves of blasts, my new flight power actually coming in handy in more ways than one.

"Why won't you sit…_still?!"_ he growled, still firing at me.

"Maybe 'cause—oh, I don't know—I don't wanna get _hit?!"_ I called.

Finally stopping his energy blasts, I sighed with relief. My relief was short-lived as Atlas shot up at me, fist drawn back. I let out a scream as his fist met with my face, causing me to plummet back down into the building.

"Still weak, I see!" he laughed down at me as I vainly tried to get up. "Thought I told your buddy to tell ya to get stronger!"

I brought my head up slowly and gasped. Right in front of my face was my backpack. I turned to look up at Atlas. He was so caught up in his laughing fit, that he didn't notice when I had quickly snatched my bag, put it on, and transformed. I turned on my rockets and shot up at Atlas the same way he had come at me—but this time, I blasted Atlas in the face with my cannons, causing him to fly back and off of the floating city.

I smirked, watching as Atlas fell down to the Surface quickly. I dove straight down for him, my rockets speeding up in order to catch him. As I caught up to him, I grabbed him in a tight hold around his torso and plummeted straight into the junk piles of the Surface, causing a shockwave of junk to ripple along our impact site. I floated above Atlas, who lay unmoving in an even larger hole than the one I had made in front of school yesterday.

He didn't seem to be moving at all, and a few moments passed before he slowly opened his mouth. "You…little…_brat!"_ he growled. Atlas's eyes whipped open, glowing a bright, electrifying red. I gasped as he burst straight up at me, grabbing me by the throat and tossing me to the left, where I landed roughly on a patch of ground untouched by junk.

"Oof!" I huffed. Once I looked up, blasts of energy began barraging me once more, but this time, I was unable to jump out of the way. The whole time, Atlas was laughing maniacally as I just lay there, taking the hundreds of blows that were hitting me repeatedly.

The energy bursts didn't hurt me, thanks to the suit, but kept me on the ground. _I don't know if my suit is going to take it much longer!_ I thought, worried. Atlas stopped finally, putting down his arm cannons. The panels around my suit were smoking slightly, and I hoped that no permanent damage had been done.

"Well, that was ea—" I launched into the air, grabbing Atlas by the throat and tossing him off into the side of a building. "AHH!" he shouted, taking down the building along with him as he went through it.

_Good thing there was no one living there…_ I thought as I flew towards him. He was unmoving, the electricity gone from his helmet, his eyes closed, and his suit smoking slightly. I smirked to myself as I saw Atlas's battle suit remove itself from his body. His clothes were burnt badly, and his orange-tanned skin was covered in dirt marks.

_I beat him again!_ I thought with a smile and a pump of my fist. "Yes!" I exclaimed. Then, I frowned. _Maybe I should see if he's okay…_

Floating down to the ground, I removed my suit, and began walking over towards him. He lay still as I approached him, and I reached out a hand towards him, but recoiled back as a purple spark zapped my finger. "Ow!" I exclaimed silently, shaking my hand. "What the heck…?" I frowned. "Atlas. Hey, wake up!"

Atlas groaned and slowly opened his eyes, turning his head slightly to look up at me. "Wh-what…?"

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He chuckled, despite my concerned look. "Why do you even care? I'm a robot, and you're not anymore, so why should it matter?"

"I _care_ because you _are_ a robot, just like I was," I told him. "Only, except…you have the Red Core instead of the Blue."

Atlas just laughed. "You're stupid, that's what you are. Getting this close to me when you know for a fact what happens when the Red and Blue Cores come together." He motioned slightly towards my hand, and I looked down, gasping.

Blue energy was flowing out of my hand and towards Atlas, where his was also flowing out of his hand, colliding together slightly. "Why doesn't it hurt, then?"

"Because you're not touching me," he explained. "With our suits on, nothing will happen."

I gasped. "Oh! I _did_ touch you before, and it zapped me," I replied.

"Exactly," he growled. "Now get away from me before I hurt ya."

I smiled, despite myself. "Atlas, come on, don't be that way."

"Dude, it's in my programming," he growled. "I was programmed to kill you, why do you think I've been going at you for the past few days?"

I looked away and down at the ground. Now it all made sense! The past few days… Stone escaping from prison… Atlas flying away towards the Surface… _It's all so clear! _"You were built by Hamegg, weren't you?"

His eyes widened. "How the heck—?"

"I know a thing or two," I chuckled. "Hamegg hates me, Stone hates me; it all makes _perfect_ sense."

Atlas glared at me. "Fine. What does it matter who created me?" he growled, slowly getting up. "What _matters_ is you being _dead."_ With a roar, he threw his fist at me, but I quickly dodged his blow, glaring squarely at him.

"First off, that was rude," I said, kicking him in the chest with all the force I could muster. He fell backwards, doing a backward somersault before stopping. "Second," I continued, walking slowly towards him. "What did _I_ ever do to _you_ to make you want to kill me?"

_"You_ didn't do anything. Like I said before, it's in my _programming._ I couldn't _not_ kill you if I wanted to," he replied with a frown.

I crossed my arms. "Being programmed to do something doesn't necessarily mean you have to go through with it, you know."

Atlas glared at me with burning eyes. "Do I look like I _care?"_ he asked in a low voice. "If I don't follow that _programming,_ I won't have a purpose—and if I don't have a purpose, well…" He shook his head. "Never mind that!" He activated his arm cannon. "I have one word of advice to you…_ RUN!"_

My eyes widened and I began running away from Atlas as he laughed at me, firing his cannon repeatedly. I nearly tripped over a piece of junk sticking out of the ground, but I regained my balance quickly. _Wait, why am I running? I have flight powers now!_ I reminded myself, hopping into the air, the blue halo of energy surrounding my feet as I flew up towards Metro City, Atlas's laugh echoing in my ears. I turned to look back and saw that Atlas wasn't following me. I nearly stopped in confusion, but I faced Metro City once more and kept going.

_Why isn't he following me?_ I wondered, a little more than panicked. I turned around to look for Atlas once more…

But he was gone.

* * *

"I need an upgrade."

Hamegg looked up to see Atlas standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. "Why?" he asked.

"I was defeated by that stupid Astro again!" he growled, walking over to the man.

"You're getting beaten by a _human…?"_ Stone chuckled from beside Hamegg in a chair.

"He's got a suit!" Atlas snapped. "That robot, Cobalt? I thought I told you that!"

"Oh, right," Stone mumbled.

Atlas face-palmed, turning back to Hamegg. "I want my upgrade to actually _count_ this time!" he roared, slamming a fist on the table in front of him. "Not just some dumb rocket upgrade!"

"You're the one who wanted that _'dumb rocket upgrade',"_ Hamegg pointed out, but shrugged. "Whatever, I guess. What would you like _this_ time?"

"Something more powerful," Atlas growled. "Something that will _ensure_ my defeating Astro Boy once and for all!"

Hamegg hesitated a moment, thinking. Finally, he snapped his fingers and with a smile, he hurried over to a table. "I believe I have _just_ the upgrade for you, Atlas," he laughed, turning around with a wrench in his hand. "Just…the…_upgrade!"_

* * *

Once I saw the grass of Metro City below me, I breathed a sigh of relief and fell the final ten feet to the ground below, landing on my stomach with a slight, "Oof!" I lay there for a few moments, my eyes shut, before pushing myself up and looking blearily around. The city looked sound, so that was good. It was safe…for now, at least… I wanted to fall over and go to sleep right now; I was so exhausted. But I had to get home and tell Dad I was okay…

"ASTRO!"

I looked up, my arm wobbling as it held up my body. Cora was running towards me, a worried and slightly relieved look on her face. "Hey…" I murmured with a smile.

Cora fell to her knees and knocked me over onto my back, because she ran into me so hard, hugging me. My eyes widened and I let out a groan of pain. "Oh, oh! Sorry!" She got off me. "Are you okay?! I saw you land… Do you have rocket boots or something? Because I saw you flying without your suit!"

"Complicated," I muttered, still on my back. "Very complicated…" My eyes closed—and try as I might—I fell asleep.

_My eyes opened and I gasped as I looked around myself. The city was in complete ruins, every building was destroyed, and rubble was strewn all over the place. I frowned, walking forward while looking around. _Is this another vision?_ I asked myself. _I know these aren't nightmares anymore… If they were, they wouldn't come true…

_I heard a laugh behind me, and I turned. I gasped at what I saw. Atlas—a much stronger-looking and more powerful version—was tossing his head back and laughing at the destruction of the city…and right at his feet was a broken body. As I looked closer, my skin crawled as I realized who it was…_

Me.

_"Atlas, what have you _done?!"_ I shouted, but the dream Atlas just continued laughing, not even noticing that I was there. A tear streaked down my face and I fell to my knees. _I'm gonna…die?!_ I thought, another tear escaping my eye. I threw back my head as a wail of despair left my body…_

"Astro! Astro! Wake up, bro!"

I whipped my eyes open and shot into a sitting position, breathing heavily. "Wh-what…?"

"You looked like you were having a nightmare," Zane remarked from beside Cora.

I looked to the left slightly and saw Reno standing there with a confused look on his face. My eyes widened. "You…you said…Astro…didn't you?" I asked in a small voice while looking between Zane and Reno.

"Yeah, you _are_ Astro. Why wouldn't I call you…?" He broke off and looked to where I was staring, all the color draining from his face. "Oh, crud…"

Reno blinked. "Astro?" he asked, confused. "But…that's Toby."

"Uh…I-I'm Toby! Right!" I stammered, at a loss for words. "They're just confused is all."

Reno scratched the back of his head and looked away. "Right…"

I chuckled nervously with a big smile, hoping to get away with the small white lie, but Reno didn't look like he was buying it.

"ANYWAY!" Cora interrupted, helping me to my feet quickly—more like _yanking_ me to my feet. I wobbled slightly, but she caught me. "I'm gonna take _Toby_ home now… Hehe…" Cora pulled me down the grassy hill, away from Zane and a befuddled Reno. She kept on holding onto my arm tightly until she brought me to the edge of Metro Park, where she finally let go.

I rubbed my arm in mock hurt. "Please try not to pull my arm off next time, Cora," I joked.

"Sorry, but I just _had_ to get you away from there," she huffed, crossing her arms. "I can't _believe_ Zane gave away your secret!"

"It's okay, Cora—"

"No, it's _not!"_ she interrupted, turning on me with a glare. I shrank underneath it. "Now Reno's gonna tell everyone! And you'll no longer be a _secret!"_

"It wasn't exactly his fault, you know," I told her. "Zane didn't see Reno there." I frowned. "And what makes you think Reno will tell everyone?" I asked. "He seems like a good kid—besides, who would believe him? Santa?"

Cora giggled at the last word I said, but immediately regained her cool. "Well…you've got a point there," she mumbled. "But still…"

I sighed, looking away. "Besides, I think I've got more to worry about than Reno telling everyone about me," I replied, thinking about the vision I'd had.

"Like…?" Cora pushed.

I sighed. "Well, i-it's nothing for _you_ to worry about anyway," I mumbled, shrugging.

She gave me a look, but instead said, "By the way, you never told me about your rocket…boot…thingies."

I looked down. "Oh, uh, yeah… Um…they're _not_ rocket boots?" I half asked.

Cora rose her eyebrow. "Then how could you fly? Did you make another wish, or something?" she joked, giggling.

"Um…yeah, actually, I did," I chuckled, rubbing my head.

Cora's eyes widened, but she laughed, nonetheless. "Riiiiiight," she drew out, looking away with a slight frown. "I'll _never_ understand you and wish things."

"Yeah, me neither," I said.

"CORAAA!" Zane called, running after us.

Cora groaned, rolling her eyes. "Great, I thought we were rid of the bumbling idiot!"

Zane ran up to us, panting. "I…had to… Hold up, gotta catch my…breath!" he gasped out, holding up his right hand and putting his other hand on his knee.

"What's the rush?" Cora asked.

Zane was still holding up his finger, and then dropped it and straightened up with a sigh. "You guys left me with _Reno!_ It was all _awkward!"_

"Your point?" Cora deadpanned.

"…Never _mind!"_ he groaned, face-palming.

Cora and I laughed a little. "So," I said, turning to Cora, "weren't you gonna take me home?" I asked in a playful tone.

"Right, yeah! Sorry!" Cora blushed.

"I was joking, Cora, you don't have to," I responded quickly. "I can call Orrin and have him pick me up."

"No, no, it's fine. I'd like to see where you live anyway," she giggled. I smiled at her.

"Ohhh…!" Zane groaned, sticking out his tongue and making a face. "Bleugh! Mushy love crap!"

Cora and I laughed to each other as we began off towards my home in the distance. After a moment or two, Zane ran after us calling, "Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

**A/N:** XD Zane makes me laugh. He's so hilarious. And oh noes! What will Reno do? What's gonna happen?! oAo Anyway, please leave reviews. I need to know if I'm doing good or not, and it gives me and Star both motivation to write. :( Please?


	9. Insight

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait. Star and I are taking a short break with this story, but don't worry! It won't be for long, I promise.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Insight **

"DAAAD?" I called, opening the door to my apartment.

"Jeez, son, don't yell so loud. I'm right here," Dad replied, turning around to face me from the couch. "I heard about your little…escapade at the school today," he said, glancing at Cora and Zane, who were standing behind me. "Looks like you kids will need a new school again, huh?"

"Yeah, no kidding." Zane shook his head. "And the guy always goes after Astro for some reason."

Dad blinked. "Er…you mean Toby?" he said, looking from me, to him, to Cora. I face-palmed.

"Zane, you _idiot!"_ Cora growled.

Zane chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Guess I walked into that one, huh?"

"You walk into _everything!"_ she shouted, waving her hands in the air.

"Uh…" I began, but Dad cut me off.

"I guess you couldn't keep it a secret," he sighed.

"No, no, no!" I said, waving my hands in front of me. "No, you—they—well, they just…sort of found out maybe…three or four days ago?"

"Three or four days…wasn't that your date with Cora?" Dad asked.

I blushed. "Um…yeah…?" I shoved my hands into my pockets. "So?" He gave me an expectant look and I sighed. "I accidentally…may have…slipped something to them about when I was with them…before at Hamegg's…"

"Wait, you were at Hamegg's? As in Robert Hamegg?" he asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah, he was running some sort of orphanage down there," I said. "That's where I met Cora and Zane."

"An _orphanage?"_ Dad repeated, incredulous.

"He had us kids look for robot parts in return for a home," Cora explained. "But he sure was quick to abandon us when things were turning sour for him down there."

"I'm surprised he even let you kids stay there with him!" Dad said, rubbing his chin. "He hated kids. He had even hated Toby!"

I frowned. "He hated Toby?" I echoed. "But I don't even remember meeting him…" I broke off slightly, looking away. "Oh, yeah, now I remember. I met him when I was…like 8-years-old—well, Toby, anyway."

"Yes… Wasn't the most pleasant of meetings," Dad said. "But enough about Hamegg… So you two know about Astro, huh?"

"Annnd possibly someone else," Cora said, glaring at Zane. "Thanks to _this_ loudmouth, here."

"I _told_ you, I didn't see Reno behind me!" Zane protested. "Besides, you were able to save it, weren't you? He probably thought it was just a little mistake, or something!"

"I-I don't know, guys," I murmured. "He looked like he didn't buy it."

"That's bad, then," Dad replied. "This 'Reno' might become a problem."

I sighed. "But he's a good kid, I know it! I'm pretty sure he wouldn't tell. A-and I'll talk to him tomorrow about it, just in case," I added.

Dad nodded. "Good idea," he agreed. "So…mind on telling me how exactly your new school got destroyed again?"

"Well…" I sighed, looking at Cora and Zane. "This robot came and started attacking me, and it claimed it _knew_ that I was Astro."

"How?" he asked, startled.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my dissolved Blue Core."

"But only Red Core can detect Blue Core," my dad said. "Unless…" His eyes grew wide. "Stone…escaping from prison… Hamegg… It all makes _sense!"_

I chuckled slightly. "Yeah, that's what I thought too. And yes, he does have the Red Core in him."

"B-but that's impossible!" Dad blanched. "The Red Core was destroyed! Gone!"

"So was the Blue Core," I pointed out. "And yet, it's still around." I glanced at my chest. "Well…sorta, anyway."

"Ohh…" Dad ran his fingers through his hair with a groan. "I'm sorry, son, but I'm going to have to pull you out of school for a while."

"What?!" I cried. "Why?!"

"Why do you think, son? If this is the second time that robot has come after you, we can't risk the other students' lives if you still return to school," he said. "Or your life, for that matter. We're going to have to keep you somewhere safe."

"B-but—"

"No buts, Astro!" he nearly yelled, and I flinched slightly. "If that robot attacks you again, you will most _certainly_ put other's lives at stake." His eyes landed on Cora and Zane. "Like these two. Do you want to lose your friends?"

My eyes slowly lowered to the ground and I sighed. "N-no…" I murmured, my shoulders slackening.

Cora looked between my dad and I with a frown on her face. "But, Sir, if Astro doesn't go to school as Toby, people will think he died in the attack!"

"Maybe that would be better off," Dad sighed, shaking his head. "If people think he's dead, then maybe the robot won't attack him, because _he_ will think he's dead, too," Dad said.

I shook my head. "No, he definitely knows I'm alive," I told him. "But I don't want to hide out for the rest of my life…"

"Maybe you could just say you're pulling him out of school because of all these attacks?" Zane wondered. "I'm sure lots of parents are doing that now."

"Zane, _how_ was it that you just got so brilliant all of a sudden?" Cora asked blatantly.

Zane shrugged and smiled. "It's in my nature," he joked.

Cora rolled her eyes. "Riiiight…"

I chuckled, but then turned back to Dad. "I have an idea! You could hire the tutor I wanted, remember?"

Dad nodded. "Yeah, that could work…"

"But what about us?" Cora crossed her arms.

Dad sighed. "I'm afraid you'll have to do what your parents decide," he replied. "But I _will_ allow you to visit occasionally. If you wanted to see Astro, though…it won't be here."

"Huh?" the three of us said at the same time, looking at one another.

"I'm going to keep my eye on you, so that means you'll have to be tutored at the Ministry," he explained. "In my office, where it's nice and quiet."

I sighed. "Alright, I suppose."

Cora looked at me. "So…I'm guessing no date?"

I looked at her and chuckled slightly, scratching the back of my head. "Well…I… That's kinda up to my dad now, I guess…"

"No, sorry. No dates. At least, not anytime soon," Dad told us. "Not until this rogue robot has been taken care of."

Cora and I looked at each other, disappointed. Zane just rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue. "Lovebirds…" he muttered. Cora punched him in the shoulder.

I perked up. "Dad, I know who built the robot."

"Oh?" he asked.

"It was Hamegg," I replied, causing Cora and Zane to gasp in shock. "He built it, along with Stone and maybe Heckler. It's for their 'revenge' plot, I suppose. The robot called himself 'Atlas'."

"Interesting!" Dad said. "After the God who held up the sky with his bare hands…"

"Seems legit," Zane mused. He got another punch to the shoulder. "OW, _what?!"_ Cora just rolled her eyes.

"But what about Cobalt?" I asked, a thought occurring. "I mean, I still get to be the protector, right?"

"Well, yes, but…" Dad sighed. "Only if that robot—Atlas—comes, okay?"

I nodded and with a smile, added, "Sounds good to me!"

* * *

"Well, Atlas," Hamegg murmured as he worked on the robot, "your upgrades still need some time, and then after I'm finished, you need to rest for a while."

"As long as I'm able to defeat Astro, I don't care," Atlas growled.

"Good, good…" Hamegg opened a panel on Atlas's leg, and started taking away certain parts, adding in new ones. He worked and worked hard on making Atlas more powerful.

Meanwhile, Heckler and Stone were in the front room, having another arm wrestling match. Stone yanked on Heckler's arm, and like the many times before, Heckler lost the game. "I win again!" he declared, shooting to his feet in a victorious pose, while Heckler popped his head up from down on the ground, rubbing his head.

"Sir, please stop throwing me on the ground," Heckler sighed.

"Fine." Stone rolled his eyes. "Ready for another match?"

"With all due respect, Sir, my arm is getting sore," Heckler said nervously. "Why don't we watch the news instead?"

"Ya big baby," Stone grumbled, rolling his eyes again. But nonetheless, Stone turned towards the TV and clicked the on button on the remote. A news report was showing, and Stone leaned in with interest.

"Metro High was—again—destroyed today in a rampage, all caused by the same rogue robot," the reporter said as they showed a blurry picture of Atlas and Cobalt fighting in the air. "The citizens of Metro City are at unease today, as they fear that this rogue robot is going to strike again. No one knows why it's simply targeting Metro High School, but some of the students claim it only goes after a certain young man by the name of Toby Tenma" —they showed a picture of Astro on screen next to his father— "the child that Astro Boy was based off from and found once again in the Ministry in a coma a few months after the Peacekeeper's rampage and Stone's betrayal. Experts—"

"I HAD AN ELECTION TO WIN!" Stone shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

"—Whether or not Toby will be pulled out of school due to safety reasons is unknown. The police will be on high alert for any signs of the robot…"

Stone slumped in his chair, still seething about them calling him a betrayer. Didn't they know how politics _ran_ around here?

"Sir?" Heckler grunted. "Did you just hear that, Sir?"

"No, what?" Stone asked gruffly, annoyed.

"They just said that the President of Metro City—" He broke off, shrinking underneath Stone's death glare he was being given. "Er, I-I mean, uh…that dirty hippy just said that there wouldn't be any more school for kids until this robot is taken care of."

Stone frowned in frustration and shot up and out of his chair. Heckler followed after the former President as he stomped his way upstairs to Hamegg's workshop. "Hamegg!" he called.

The man looked up from working on Atlas's upgrade, and the robot turned his head slightly. "Yeah?" Hamegg asked.

"They said that there wouldn't be any more school until that robot of yours is taken care of," Stone said.

Hamegg rolled his hand. "Go on…"

Stone frowned. "That means Astro won't be at the school!" he shouted in his face.

"So?" Hamegg said bluntly. "That means that Astro would be in two other places—his home and the Ministry, both of which I know the addresses of."

"So, it's not a problem?" Atlas asked. "If I go destroy both of those, buildings, I mean."

Stone frowned. "I wouldn't care about Tenma's home, but not the Ministry of Science," he murmured, rubbing his chin. "There are way too many explosives in that building…"

"So? The bigger the explosion, the better!" Atlas exclaimed.

"Not a nuclear bomb sort of explosion!" Stone growled.

"Annnnd what's so wrong with that?" Atlas asked bluntly.

"Nothing!" Stone growled. "But…GAHH! Whatever." He waved his hand and began walking away. "Go destroy it, see if I care."

"Fine, I will!" Atlas yelled back.

* * *

I sighed, plopping down face first onto my bed, my arms and legs outstretched.

"Sooo, this is your room, huh?" Cora asked, entering the room with her hands behind her back. Zane followed behind her, looking around with a smile on his face.

"Yup, my room," I said tiredly.

"WHOA, is that a Zip-Ten-Pack poster?!" Zane cried, looking at the wall over my bed, which was covered with posters.

I glanced at the wall and nodded. "Yeah, got it for my birthday last year. Or…Toby got it, or whatever…"

"That is _so_ cool!" Zane said, amazed.

"So…whatcha wanna do?" Cora asked, sitting beside me on my bed as I sat up. "You got any game consoles, or anything?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have a Playstation 6, although it's _preeetty_ old," I replied, getting up off the bed and hurrying over to my flatscreen TV on the wall next to my bathroom. I leaned down and began plugging everything in. "Well…" I continued, "not really _that_ old, but you catch my drift." I grabbed the controller, handing it to Cora. "Lucky for you guys, I've got _three_ controllers," I said, handing another to Zane and grabbing the last one for myself, sitting cross-legged on my bed. "So what do you guys want to play?"

"Do you have League of Legends?" Zane asked with a wide smile.

I nodded and clicked on the game on screen, and then the game began to play. Once we were far into the game, Cora had begun beating us all. I was so concentrated in my gaming mode that I didn't even notice Orrin roll into the room.

"I brought you kids some snacks," he said, setting the tray on a table. Only the sound of fighting grunts met his ears. He blinked a few times and then backed away awkwardly. "Mmkay, I'll…just be over there." Orrin pointed out the door with his thumb, chuckling slightly, and rolling back out the door.

"Dude, no _freakin'_ way!" Zane cried as Cora beat him for the tenth time. "How do you _do_ that?!"

"I'm just talented." Cora smiled devilishly. "Okay, now for Astro…!"

I laughed, clicking the buttons on the controller. "Oh, nuh-uh! You aren't beating _me!"_ I stuck my tongue out of the side of my mouth as I concentrated on beating Cora. My avatar on the game kicked and flashed lightning at Cora's avatar. _One more hit and I win!_ I thought, leaning in with effort. Suddenly, she unleashed her ultimate attack on me, and I was beaten.

"K-O!" the game shouted.

I groaned, throwing my head back and my hands in the air. "WHYYYY!" I moaned, fake crying.

"Muahaha!" Cora pumped her fists into the air. "I WIN AGAIN!"

"Show off…" Zane grumbled.

I grinned. "Well, good job, anyway," I said, lightly punching her in the shoulder.

Cora smiled. "Wanna know how I do it?" she asked, her eyes glinting mischievously.

"Yes!" Zane and I cried.

"That's nice, but I'm not telling." Cora threw back her head and laughed some more, making Zane and I groan.

"Aw, come on!" Zane pouted.

Cora shook her head, crossing her arms. "Nope!"

I suddenly got an idea, and I lightly touched her shoulder. "Pretty please, Cora?" She blushed furiously underneath my touch, and I grinned. _She's gonna crack!_

"Nope!" she said again.

We slumped in defeat. "Darn," Zane muttered. "I thought we had it…"

"I GLORY IN YOUR DESPAIR!" Cora cried, flinging her hands into the air.

Zane and I looked at each other. "Too much video games?" I asked.

"Too much video games," he agreed.

I fell back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. _"Way_ too much video games…" I murmured as Cora continued 'evil' laughing to no one in particular.

"Astro, could you come here a minute?" Dad called from downstairs.

"Yeah! Coming!" I replied, sitting back up and hopping off the bed.

"Come alone, please!" he called again.

I turned back around and gave my two friends a slight nod before hurrying downstairs. "Yeah, Dad? What's up?"

"I hired your tutor," he explained. "You start Monday. I told him to keep this client—you—a secret."

"Oh?" I asked. "Who is it?"

"His name is Mr. Higginson, and he teaches school down on the Surface," Dad replied.

"Higginson?" I echoed with a snort. "That's a lame name."

"Don't say that in front of him, son," Dad said sternly. "You must use manners, especially with someone you've never met before."

"Yeah, I know, Dad," I said, hands in my pockets.

"Alright, now you can go back up to your friends," Dad said. "They can only stay for a little while longer, and then I want them home, understand?"

I sighed, nodding. "Sure, Dad." I headed back up the stairs and into my room where Zane was digging into the snacks that Orrin had left us.

"Man! Your house-bot _sure_ knows how to make snacks!" he replied with his mouth full, still shoving food in his face.

"Save some for the rest of us!" Cora cried, grabbing the two remaining sandwiches and handing one to me.

"Thanks," I said, biting into it. Zane opened up a bag of Zeggie Chips, munching on the cheesy goodness inside.

"Maybe you really _were_ raised by wild pigs," Cora joked, causing me to choke on my sandwich with laughter.

Zane froze, blinking at Cora and I as we laughed, chips to his face. "Hey!" he exclaimed with a pout.

"You gotta admit, Zane, you had that one coming," I laughed.

Zane glared at me and shrugged. "Meh…" he mumbled, looking down at his chips.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Zane," Cora apologized. "I was just being silly."

Zane let out a lonely sigh and put the bag of chips down. I frowned, coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, we're sorry. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Zane looked sideways slightly. "Yeah, I forgive you," he said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, but _you_ won't forgive me for _this!"_ He whipped around and chucked the chips in his hand at my face. I laughed, my face covered with cheese powder, I backed up and fell backwards onto my bed while Zane continued to bombard me with chips. I grabbed another bag of chips and was about to start bombarding _him,_ when Dad suddenly opened the door.

We all froze in place while Dad's eyes trained solely on the mess that we had made. "Astro…" he began.

"We were just having fun!" I explained, quickly putting my bag down. "I'm sorry."

Dad sighed. "Orrin will have to clean this up, I suppose…" he murmured. "In the meantime, I think your friends should go home now."

"But Dad—"

"No buts, Toby!" Dad nearly shouted again.

As he said 'Toby', I flinched, my eyes wide. _An honest mistake… Right?_ I put my head down, looking at my feet.

"Bye, Astro," Cora said softly.

"See ya," Zane mumbled as they left the room.

I looked back at my dad, but he'd left the room after them, leaving me alone with the mess we'd made.

* * *

Heckler quickly put the dark brown wig on, looking at himself in the mirror. "Yeah!" he said, clicking his tongue at his reflection.

"Quit bein' stupid, you dope!" Stone said, coming up behind him and smacking him over the head, knocking the wig off balance.

"Sorry, Sir," he replied sheepishly. He had put his disguise on, wearing a dark blue jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, black dress pants, and shoes.

"Now, let's go over this again," Stone said. "Your name is…?"

"Er…Higginson, Sir," Heckler replied. "My name is Mr. Higginson."

"What do you prefer to teach?"

"Math, Sir," Heckler said. "It's a good thing I'm not half bad at math, either, Sir."

"Shuddup," Stone growled. "Where do you live?"

"I just moved into Metro City, Sir. At Meteor Drive, 3309, Sir!"

"Good," Stone answered with a smirk. "You'll fool Astro, no doubt about that!"

"But what if he recognizes my face, Sir?" he asked with a worried look.

"He won't! He hasn't seen that much of you!" Stone declared. "Now, you're going to drive Hamegg's car up to Metro City and then go to your home. I want you to pretend to be this Higginson guy, okay? Don't give it away!"

"Yes, Sir!" Heckler grunted, saluting Stone.

Stone smacked him again, knocking the wig—once again—off balance. "No military crap, either, you idiot!"

"Yes, Sir!" Heckler said again, putting his head down. "Er…Sir? Won't he…recognize the car?"

"Not if we paint it black, he won't!" Stone growled, pointing out the window where Hamegg was already set to working on painting the car black.

"Oh," Heckler deadpanned.

Stone face-palmed, dragging his hand down his face. "Once he's done, you are to leave. Do _not_ give us away!"

"Don't we need time to let the paint dry, Sir?" Heckler asked dumbly.

"Of course not, you idiot. That's Insta-Dry paint!" Stone growled again. "Remember your address, and go straight there once the car's done. Your first tutoring lesson with Astro is tomorrow at 9 AM."

"Yes, Sir!" He frowned. "Er…why am I doing this again?" Heckler asked.

"So we can get information out of him!" he declared, waving his hands in the air. "You are to ask him nonchalantly about things that could be his weakness, or whatever…"

"You're not being very clear, Sir," Heckler grunted.

"I don't care!" he shouted again. "And stop calling me _SIR!"_

"Sorry, Sir."

Stone groaned and face-palmed again.

"Er, S—Stone? Mr. Stone?" Heckler corrected himself. "What happens if he _does_ find out?"

"Then run away, what else?" he grumbled.

Hamegg came back inside, his clothes dirtied with black splotches of paint as he wiped his hands off in front of him. "Well, there ya go, Heckler," he said. "Car's done."

"It's Higginson, Hamegg," Heckler informed him.

Hamegg rolled his eyes. "You _sure_ we can't get someone else to do this?" he muttered to Stone behind Heckler's back, who was trotting outside on his stubby legs to the newly-painted car.

"If we 'hired' someone else, I'm pretty sure they'd turn us into the police," Stone said.

"I _would_ just go kill the kid, but I can't right now," Atlas said finally, sitting in a lounge chair, his arms crossed. Atlas looked a little different, now that his upgrade was complete. His red hair was just a little longer, and he looked more buff than he had before. But his green eyes still had that same burning hatred that they'd always had…if not intensified. "How long am I going to have to sit around again?" Atlas asked, bored.

"A week, at the most," Hamegg replied.

Atlas groaned, throwing his head back on the headrest of his chair. "That's gonna take _forever!"_ he growled.

"I know you can't be patient, but just at least _try,_ okay?" Hamegg replied, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

"Fine," Atlas mumbled. "But when I'm up and able again, I'm going to kill that kid _so hard,_ he'll be _dust!"_

* * *

_I was sitting in front of a desk in a large room. My father's office, I recognized. A man with brown, curly hair was talking to me, but the voice was muddled, as if I were hearing it from underwater. The man looked slightly familiar to me…but I couldn't place where I'd seen him before. There was a sudden crashing noise, and the door to my father's office blew open. I shot out of my seat and found myself facing two glowing green eyes._

_"Your time is up," Atlas hissed, grabbing my throat._

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, panting heavily and looking around wildly. I blinked in the sunlight shining through my window, and I began calming down. "Another one?" I murmured to myself. "What's _with_ these things? And who was the guy?" I wondered aloud. My mind suddenly started pulling some pieces together. A desk at my father's office—he must have been my tutor! And I remember seeing something on the wall just before Atlas came into the room… I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember. It had been a calendar… September 8th. That had been the date. My eyes flew open, and I whirled around to face my clock on my dresser. September 5th.

_Uh-oh…_ I groaned to myself, getting up and trudging sleepily over to the bathroom. I ran a comb through my messy hair, and gelled it up like always. I smiled at my reflection. _Never better!_ I thought, hurrying downstairs to go eat breakfast.

Today was my first day with the tutor! After the nightmare I had had, I could've _sworn_ I'd seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. I sighed, the nightmare still tugging at me. Atlas was going to burst into my dad's office… _Should I warn him?_ I wondered. I shook the thoughts out of my head and headed down the stairs. I entered the dining room and saw Dad eating his breakfast at the table.

"Uh…Dad?" I said. I suddenly remembered he didn't know anything about the visions… _This is gonna be interesting,_ I thought. _But this is too important to keep quiet._

"Yes?" he asked, turning to face me.

I rubbed my arm nervously. "Uh…well… You see, the past week or so, I've been having these…nightmares…"

"Uh-huh…" Dad mumbled, chewing his food and picking up his coffee mug.

"A-and I…kinda think, maybe they're glimpses into the future," I finished.

"…What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well, they've all come true so far."

Dad spit out his coffee.

_Maybe that…wasn't the best approach?_ I thought.

"Hold up, back up for a second," Dad said, holding up his hand. "Start from the beginning."

I took a deep breath and started explaining the first dream that I'd had, and how all of them had come true so far. "And then last night, I saw that we were in your office in the Ministry of Science, and I'm pretty sure the tutor was there, too," I replied. "He was short and had brown curly hair…and then I saw Atlas."

"So these dreams have all come true?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah! It's weird. I can't really explain it."

Dad rubbed his chin. "I've always wondered why you wake up screaming every morning…"

"But _how_ is it possible?" I asked, sitting down at the table.

"I don't know…how is it possible that you're human?" Dad asked.

I frowned. "You think it's got something to do with the comet?" I asked.

Dad shrugged. "Not sure. I mean, you didn't _wish_ to see the future, did you?"

"…Nooo," I responded slowly.

Dad sighed. "Then there's no real way to explain that, I guess. But the way you're describing it sounds to me like insight."

"Insight?" I echoed, raising my eyebrow.

"It's like when people have dreams that peek into the future, and they later come true," he explained. "Although, a lot of the people I know that had those types of dreams, they didn't come true…"

I looked away and then back to Dad. "So…uh… Yeah, while we're talking about…things I haven't mentioned…" Dad gave me the eye and I shrank back. "U-um…w-well… I kinda made a last second wish…"

"Another?" Dad perked up. "What did you wish for?"

"Um…" I tapped my fingers on my knees. "I wished I could… Well, first I gotta tell you what was happening. Atlas had just broken into the new-slash-old school building, that one apartment we were using, and he sorta…threw me off the side of Metro City—"

"HE _WHAT?!"_ I winced slightly as he continued. "Why didn't you have your suit with you?!"

"Well, he kinda…knows about it, I guess," I mumbled, looking up innocently. Dad groaned, face-palming. I smiled suddenly. "B-but you haven't heard the best part!"

"Oh, dear Lord…" he muttered under his breath.

I ignored his comment and stood up from the table. "Watch this, Dad!" I exclaimed, running over into the living room, jumping into the air, the blue energy surging up from my shoes. "Huh? _Huh?"_ I said, smiling, indicating my new power with my hands.

The doorbell suddenly rang, scaring me so badly I fell out of the air and onto the floor with a loud _THWUMP._ "Ow~" I muttered, whamming my head onto the ground.

"Ah, that must be your tutor," Dad said, getting up from the table.

My eyes widened as he headed for the door. _First impressions count!_ I thought, squeezing my eyes shut.

Dad came back into the room and cleared his throat. "Toby, this is Mr. Higginson," he introduced, motioning towards the man.

I opened back up my eyes. I blinked at the man, and immediately recognized him as the guy from my dream—or 'insight' thing…whatever. Something in the back of my head was yelling that I'd seen him before _somewhere…_ Maybe I'd bumped into him before down on the Surface. "Hello, Sir," I said, holding out my hand.

Mr. Higginson shook my hand with a large, worn one. "Good morning," he said gruffly.

I looked over his shoulder and saw my dad miming behind him 'No powers!' and drew a finger across his neck. "Alright, kiddo," Dad sighed. "I'm off to work. Be good!" He gave me another look, and I chuckled nervously before he left the apartment.

Orrin rolled into the dining room and cleaned up the breakfast table, and it was then that I realized my stomach was rumbling. I had totally forgotten to eat breakfast.

"So, Mr. Tenma," Higginson said, walking over to the table and putting his briefcase on it. "Let's start out with your favorite subject. What is it?"

"Er…" I scratched my head. _What _is_ my favorite subject?_ "Math, I guess?"

"Math, alright." Higginson opened his briefcase and brought out a math book.

"Uh…" I began, looking back at the table in the living room. "We…we have a, uh…" I pointed with my thumb at the table. "We have a screen thing."

"Oh, you have one of those? I do, too," he grunted. "Show me, would ya?"

I nodded, smiling. "Sure." I hurried over to the table that had the motion sensor on the desk in front of it, sitting down in a chair. The tutor sat down next to me, setting his briefcase on the table. I waved my hand over the motion sensor and the screen popped up.

Higginson typed in an equation in the screen. "Solve that," he said.

That's pretty much how the rest of the day went, with our other subjects as well. I thought he was kind of odd, very gruff, and he reminded me of someone who used to be in the military. _Maybe he _was_ before he became a teacher,_ I thought as I wrote down the answers to my history questions Mr. Higginson was giving me.

Orrin rolled into the room with a tray in his hands and a smile on his face. "I brought you two some snacks," he said, setting the tray down on the table.

I looked over to my right and I could've sworn I saw Mr. Higginson sneer at Orrin as he rolled away into the kitchen.

I frowned at Mr. Higginson. _He might just not like robots, is all,_ I thought. _But then, why would he agree to tutor the son of the guy who invents them?_

"Hey, no daydreaming!" Higginson snapped.

I blinked, turning back to my studies. "Sorry," I apologized.

"Sorry, _Sir."_

"Sorry, Sir." I frowned as I began typing in the rest of my answers. _He's kind of...rough..._ I thought, glancing at him now and again out of the corner of my eye while he ate the snacks. My stomach growled again, and I stopped, looking hungrily at the snacks on the tray. I reached for one, but Mr. Higginson slapped my hand. I retracted, whipping my hand in pain.

"Finish the questions first," he ordered.

I frowned again, but nonetheless, turned back to the screen.

When it was finally time for Higginson to leave, I couldn't help but be a _little_ happy about it. He packed up his briefcase and went out the front door, muttering a gruff farewell as he did. I gave a half-hearted wave, watching as the door closed behind him. My stomach gave another growl, louder than the rest had. It was now 3:00 PM, and I _still_ hadn't had anything to eat!

I hurried into the kitchen and whipped open the fridge door, stuffing a bunch of food into my mouth. Orrin rolled into the kitchen and let out a yelp of surprise as he saw me. I turned to him, food hanging from my mouth. "Hi, Orrin!" I said.

Orrin began calming down. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Eating. I haven't eaten all day!" I said, stuffing the rest of the string cheese that had been hanging out into my mouth. I grabbed some bread and turkey, throwing them on the counter before grabbing the cheese and mayonnaise. I'd never made a sandwich so fast before, but I was eager to eat _something._ But just as I was about to take a bite, the phone rang.

I groaned in despair, throwing the sandwich back on the counter and hurried into the living room to answer the phone. I quickly typed in the answer key on the panel, and Cora appeared. I nearly choked on my spit as her hologram appeared, coughing into my sleeve, my eyes wide.

"Are you okay, A—er, Toby?"

I held up my finger and cleared my throat. "First of all…hi! Second of all, sorry about that," I chuckled.

Cora smiled. "It's okay," she said. "So, what's up?"

"Er, nothing. I just got finished with my first tutoring lesson," I told her, shrugging. "Not sure if I like him or not…"

"What's he like?" Cora asked, interested.

"Well, he's kinda short and…has brown hair… He seems like he's from the military, what with the way he talks and everything," I replied. "He wouldn't even let me eat during our session…and lemme tell you, that wasn't very nice."

She chuckled. "So, he's a gruff guy, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Oh! And speaking of food…" My stomach grumbled, and I chuckled.

Cora rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "Go ahead."

Suddenly, Zane appeared next to her. "Yo, Ast—" Cora punched him. "Ow! Er… Yo, Toby!" he exclaimed with a wave.

"Hi, Zane," I replied, glancing at the kitchen.

"Go ahead and get something to eat, Toby," Cora said nicely. "We'll call back later."

"I'll call you guys," I said. The connection ended and I sighed with relief. _Now I can finally go eat my sandwich!_ I thought as I hurried back into the kitchen, grabbing the food off the counter. I took a bite and immediately felt better. Suddenly, the phone rang again, and I groaned, swallowing my food and taking the sandwich with me. _It better not be Zane!_ I thought, typing in the key and answering the phone.

A black figure appeared, and I rose an eyebrow. "Um…who're you?"

"No one," the figure said, his voice distorted. "I have a message for Astro…"

"Uh—"

"Unless you go to the Ministry to be tutored, your friends and family will be harmed," he continued without pause.

"Excuse me?!" I nearly shouted, putting my sandwich down on the table and pointing at the figure in frustration. "No one calls me and tells me they're gonna harm my friends and family and gets away with it!"

"I will give you no more warnings," the figure said, cutting off the line.

"HEY!" I shouted, jumping for the figure, but he had already vanished. "Okay, that just _really_ ticks me off!" I growled.

"Is something the matter, Astro?" Orrin asked, rolling up to me. "Who was on the phone?"

"No idea," I grumbled. "The line was blocked." I tore off another bite of my sandwich, still angry.

"What did they say?" Orrin asked.

"I'd rather not say," I mumbled, chewing my food and heading for upstairs. "I'm going to my room. Call me down when Dad gets home."

"But—"

I turned around and gave Orrin a look, and he flinched, backing away slightly. "Sorry, Orrin. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, Astro," he replied. "I'll call you when Bill is home."

I smiled at him and hurried upstairs. Once I got to my room, closing the door behind me, I leaned up against it and sighed, frowning. _What kind of person would want me at the Ministry instead of here?_ I wondered. The Ministry was fifty times more protected and secure than _here…_right? "When did my life start not making sense?" I groaned aloud.

Then I blinked, remembering my dream. That's_ why!_ I thought, taking another bite of my sandwich. _It was probably Hamegg, Stone, or Heckler, or something…_ I sighed and sat down on my bed, chewing my food and looking out the window. As I looked at the clouds, I felt that familiar tug in my chest. I needed to get _out,_ needed to fly… Just clear my head…

I quickly finished my food and walked up to the window. _I need to do this without people seeing it's me, otherwise they'll think that I—Astro—is back…_ I sighed, and then turned around as my eyes lay upon my backpack laying against my closet door. I smirked, grabbing it and slipping it on, transforming myself and opening up the window. I stepped onto the ledge and jumped out, free falling.

My rockets turned on and I shot up towards the clouds. I flew higher and higher until I burst into the white clouds and all I could see was fog. I flew higher and up over all of the clouds in the sky. Once I made it up to the clearing, I smiled, hovering there and looking at the sight before me. The sun was setting slightly and the clouds reflected the sunlight, dancing with sparkles and shining a bright yellow in most places. I sighed, putting my hands on my hips and relaxing.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I pressed the button on my suit, transforming it back into my bag. I smiled, blue energy shooting from my shoes. _Just like old times!_ I thought, bursting forward and running my hands through the clouds with whoops of joy, the wind whipping through my hair. I did another flip in the air, putting my suit back on as I did so, and did another few twirls in the air. I gave another whoop of joy as I dove back into the clouds. I sped forward like a rocket, shooting almost straight down towards the city. Once I reached the street, I veered back upward in order to miss the civilians and the cars on the road.

"Look, it's Cobalt!" an onlooker exclaimed, pointing at me.

I looked back at them and waved with a smile. _Yeah…_ Just_ like old times…_

* * *

**A/N:** Please leave reviews. We need to know if you like this story or not, and with all the people who are reading it, we can't be certain. Please just do it :/ It gives us motivation, which is also part of the reason why we're taking a short break from it.


	10. The Secret Date

**A/N:** A short chapter, yes, but whatever. XD At least I didn't wait like...a month to get it out. XD Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Secret Date **

_Bad idea! Bad idea! This was a very, _very_ bad idea!_ That thought repeated over and over as I glanced through the window, hand poised to knock. It was around 9 PM. My dad had thought I was asleep, and I was standing on a metal landing in front of Cora's window. _Worst idea of all ideas,_ I thought, licking my dry lips. I gave a loud gulp and knocked with a trembling hand. I waited out there on the landing for about ten seconds before the window opened and Cora's face appeared.

"Astro? What're you doing here?"

I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Well, I…thought…we could… You know, have a secret date?" I smiled at her. "Maybe…?" Cora blinked in surprise. _Crap, that might have been _too_ forward,_ I thought, swallowing. "I mean, if you want to, of course. It's not like I have anything else to do, but I was just wonder—OW!" Cora had punched me in the shoulder.

"Of course I want to, you idiot." She smiled at me. "I'll just get something warmer on real quick." Cora hurried over to her closet and picked out a black jacket, hurrying back over to me. "Okay, so…where are we gonna go?"

I shrugged. "Well, I was kinda thinking maybe…Metro Park…? I-if that's okay…"

"Haha, okay." Cora rushed to the back of her room and flicked off her light. "There, so my parents will think I'm asleep," she whispered, walking back towards the window and climbing out.

"Good plan," I whispered back with a smile, turning around and holding out my hands behind my back. "Okay, now just hop up and I can take us there." Cora eyed me with suspicion and I looked back, raising an eyebrow. "What?" I asked.

"Are you _sure_ you can hold my weight?" she asked. "I mean, you're a human now. You don't have your super strength anymore."

"Uhh…" I hadn't thought of that. "I'm…pretty strong still!" I defended. "I mean, maybe not weight-lifting champion kind of strong, but… Well, you know what I mean."

"Do I?" Cora joked, but she climbed on my back nonetheless. I was surprised by how light she was, compared to what I'd been expecting.

"Oh, wow," I said, hefting her farther up onto my back. "You're lighter than my backpack, haha."

She snickered at my joke. "Can your…rocket power thingy hold us both up, too?" Cora asked.

I shrugged. "Let's test it out." I hopped into the air and began to hover, the blue energy surging around my shoes.

Cora let out a yelp of surprise, but she started smiling. "Oh, this is cool! Okay, let's go!" she said excitedly.

"As you wish, m'lady," I said, mocking a British accent. We took off into the air, flying higher until we were above Metro City. I angled my body towards the Park, speeding towards it like a rocket.

"WHOOOHOOO!" Cora shouted. "THIS IS SO FUUUUN!"

"I'm glad you think so!" I yelled back to her as we neared our destination. Cora let out one more whoop of joy before we landed on the ground. I let Cora drop down off my shoulders and she wobbled slightly.

"Whoa…" she murmured, regaining her ground legs. "Oh, Astro, that was so awesome!" she exclaimed, hugging me.

I blushed under her hug with a surprised look on my face. "Uh…you're welcome?"

"Heh." Cora let me go. "So, what were you planning on us doing here?"

I frowned. "Uh…just…um…hang out, I guess?" I scratched my head. "I hadn't really thought that far…"

"Well, that's okay," Cora said, sitting down on the same bench as before. "We can just think of something, right?"

"Right!" I answered with a smile. I sat down next to her, and for a moment we were silent.

"Sooo…what do you want to talk about?" Cora asked.

I shrugged. "Umm, how about…er, what's your favorite movie?"

"Well, I love the movie Percy," she replied, looking up at the stars. "I love all the action in it and everything."

I chuckled. "An action movie? Nice! I haven't seen that one yet," I sighed.

"Yeah, it's about these two guys who are fighting over a piece of land, and it's guarded by a mystical dragon…" She shook her head. "You'd have to watch it to get it."

"Haha, okay then," I laughed, relaxing in my seat.

"What's _your_ favorite movie?" Cora asked.

I frowned, thinking. "It would have to be…er… Um…hmm…"

"What, too many to say?" Cora grinned.

"N-no," I said. "I have a favorite…but you'll think its ridiculous."

"Oh, c'mon, try me." Cora crossed her arms.

I blushed, looking away. "It's an older one…and by older, I mean _older._ Like when movies were just coming out."

"Seriously? Which one?"

"The Iron Giant."

_"That_ one?" she giggled.

I sighed. "Told you it was ridiculous…"

She placed a hand on my shoulder. "Naw, I think it's cute!"

I blinked, looking over at her. "Y-you think it's…cute? I-I'm sorry, did I hear you right?"

"Yeah? What would you rather me say?" Cora asked innocently, cocking her head.

"Well, it's just that…" I chuckled. "You _never_ think things are cute."

She laughed. "Oh! Well, it's just…well…you…" She broke off, looking into my eyes.

I blushed violently and looked away. "Yeah, well, er…" We sat there awkwardly for a moment, looking away from each other.

"So…" Cora started.

"Uh…" I took another deep breath, looking at the starry sky for a moment. _Just ask her, just _ask_ her!_ I told myself. _But what if it's not the right time yet?_ that little doubting voice in my head asked. _Just get it over with already!_

I gulped. "C-Cora?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Would you… Uh, hmm… Would you—" I broke off, looking away.

"Yeeaaaaahhh?" Cora raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. "Whaaaat?"

"Uh…would you consider maybe, uh…b-being m—" I swallowed again. "My girlfriend, maybe?"

Cora blinked at me in surprise and I looked away quickly, sweat going down my forehead even though it was 60 degrees outside. "Sure! Why not?" she exclaimed cheerfully.

I whipped back around, surprised myself. "Y-you _would?"_

I got another punch to the shoulder. "Of course, you dope," Cora laughed, hugging me. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Hehe, well…I just thought that…no one would, you know? Since I'm such a freak…" I muttered.

"You're not a _freak,_ Astro," Cora sighed, putting an arm around my shoulder and jostling me slightly. "You're a really good guy. And by really, I mean _really."_

I smiled at Cora with grateful eyes as she withdrew her arm from my shoulder. "Thanks, Cora," I said.

We started to lean closer…

_Oh, my God! This is it!_ I screamed in my head as we closed our eyes. _My first kiss!_

Suddenly, lights blinded us and we flinched back in surprise. I squinted in the light, hearing a car door slam, and a figure appear in the lights. It was then that I realized it was my dad.

_Oh…crap…_ I thought, paling. "H-hi, Dad," I mumbled, looking down.

Cora gave a sheepish wave. "Hi, Mr. Tenma," she said half-heartedly.

"Astro, _what_ are you doing out here?!" he growled.

I flinched at his tone, but still faced the ground. "I just…wanted to…see Cora…" I mumbled sadly.

"Astro, you _know_ you're supposed to be hiding out for a reason!" Dad said angrily. "You didn't even bring your suit with you for protection! If this happens again, I'll make _sure_ you won't see your friend until the school year is over. Got it?"

I sighed. "I-I'm sorry…" I murmured.

"You better be, now come on. Let's go home," Dad said, motioning for me to come with him.

I walked forward slowly and turned slightly to look at Cora. "I'm sorry, Cora…"

"It's okay." Cora smiled, getting up from the bench.

"Should I bring you home, Cora?" Dad asked.

She shook her head. "Naw, I can walk home, it's fine," she said, starting her way down the path. "Bye, Astro."

"Bye!" I called back. I hopped into the car and Dad immediately drove away from the Park. I looked back through the rear window of the car, watching Cora walk away, her hands in her pockets. I sighed, turning back to stare at the ground.

"If this happens again…" Dad threatened.

"I know, I'm sorry…" I sighed.

Dad was quiet for a moment, looking at me with an even stare. "Do you have feelings for that girl?" he suddenly asked.

I blinked, looking away while blushing violently. "Um…um…uh…" I mumbled.

"I'll take that as a yes," Dad sighed, placing his head in his hand.

I gave him a look. "Wh-what's so wrong if I _do_ have feelings for her?!" I asked defensively.

"Astro, you're 13-years-old. Maybe you should wait just a little bit before…you know, having a girlfriend, or whatever," Dad said.

"But I'm a teenager, what do you expect?" I asked.

"When I was your age, I was more focused on school," he said. "Girls weren't my top priority."

"But they aren't _mine,_ either!" I whined. "I just really like Cora is all. I'm not a _playboy_ or anything!"

Dad rolled his eyes. "Just at least try to focus on the important things? Like—oh, I don't know—_ATLAS?!"_

"But—"

"No buts about it, Astro!" Dad shouted. I looked away, glaring at my shoes. I heard Dad sigh. "I just don't want you getting hurt is all, son," he said softly.

"I know, Dad," I muttered.

It was quiet for the rest of the car ride home, and once we arrived, I hopped out of the car angrily, slamming the door shut behind me and stomping inside. Dad followed after me more slowly. I didn't want to wait for him in the elevator, so I took the flights of stairs. Once I reached the eleventh floor, the elevator to the right opened and Dad stepped out. I gave him a slight glare, but walked away to the door. I pushed the door open and ran to my room without saying anything to Dad, closing and locking the door behind me.

I jumped on my bed, flat on my stomach. Mixed emotions were coursing through me, and I let out a growl of frustration, a few tears running down my cheek. _He just doesn't understand…!_ I thought angrily, my face in the covers and my fists clenched by my head. _Maybe I'm being too hard on my dad…_ I suddenly thought. _I mean, what if _my_ kid was in danger of being killed…and still snuck out at night to see his friends?_ I sighed. _Maybe my dad _does_ understand…but he just wants me safe?_ I looked up and out the window. _I'll just have to wait and see…_

* * *

Cora sighed, walking home with her hands in her jacket pockets. _Well, that was some date,_ she thought glumly. _And I'd almost had my first kiss, too!_

Cora looked up into the sky, seeing the many stars of the night shining down upon her, although there wasn't any moon. _His dad was a little harsh on him…_ She sighed again, looking down at the ground in front of her feet. _I hope he doesn't get in too much trouble…_ She continued on walking, and once she'd reached her home, climbed up the metal landings on the side of her house so her parents wouldn't know she'd been out. She got back into her room with no trouble, sounds from the TV in the living room echoing through the house.

Suddenly, Zane burst into her room. "Where've you beeeen?!" he whisper-shouted. "I came up looking for you earlier, but you weren't here!"

Cora froze, looking away. "I was, uh…"

"Ohhhhhhhhh!" He smirked, nodding. "You were with _Astro,_ weren't ya?"

"No! Maybe…? Yes…?" Cora said, chuckling nervously. "B-but we were just talking."

_"Just_ talking?"

"NO! I-I mean, yes!" Cora stammered with a nervous chuckle.

Zane crossed his arms. "Sounds to me like you had a fun time."

"Y-yeah, it was…fun… Well, until his dad showed up," Cora said under her breath.

"Ohhh, jeez!" Zane laughed. "You two were _kissing,_ weren't you?"

"We were _about_ to…" Cora mumbled.

"Well then I'm glad I wasn't there!" Zane said. "Anyway, is Astro busted now?"

"Yeah, he's busted…like majorly," Cora replied, sitting next to Zane. "His dad was mad…_very_ mad."

"Ouch…" Zane cringed. "I feel sorry for him."

"Yeah, but don't we all? I mean, the kid's been through a lot," Cora sighed.

"Going through a complete body change…" Zane murmured. "That's gotta be tough. That's like if you were human, wishing you were a robot. Now wouldn't _that_ be weird?"

"Yeah…" Cora glanced out the window. "It would be weird."

Zane gave a huge yawn and stood up, stretching. "Well, I dunno about _you,_ but I think I'm gonna hit the pack," he said.

"It's _sack,_ Zane." Cora rolled her eyes.

"Whatever!" Zane scoffed, rubbing his eyes and heading for the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah…tomorrow…" Cora sighed as Zane left.

* * *

Heckler opened the door to his new apartment, closing it behind him and ripping the wig off his sweaty bald head. "Oh, thank goodness I can take this thing off," he moaned, throwing it on a coffee table. He plopped down onto his couch and instantly turned on the TV, but it wouldn't turn on. He clicked the button furiously, but gave up after a few minutes, throwing the remote away. "Piece of junk," he muttered.

The phone suddenly beeped, and with an attitude, he went to go answer it. A dark figure appeared, meaning that the line was blocked, but nonetheless, Heckler knew who it was.

"Idiot, you're not wearing your wig!" Stone growled, his voice a little recognizable.

Heckler rubbed his bald head, frowning. "Oh," he grunted.

"What if I was someone else calling, huh?"

"Well…then I'd be in deep doo-doo, Sir," Heckler replied.

"STOP CALLING ME SIR!" he shouted, making Heckler flinch. Stone cleared his throat. "Did you find out anything about Astro?"

"No, but the house-bot sure made good food," Heckler replied with a dope smile.

Stone made a motion as if he were pinching the bridge of his nose, but it was hard to tell since you couldn't see him clearly. "You idiot…though, maybe that was better, actually…" Stone started mumbling to himself. "He didn't start asking right away…less suspicious… Good work, Heckler!"

"Er, thank you, Sir," Heckler said. "I-I mean, just thank you. Forget the Sir, sorry."

"But ask something about it tomorrow, alright?" Stone said.

"Uh…"

"What?"

"I don't think I'm supposed to know that he's Cobalt. Or Astro, either. It's because they didn't say anything to me about that, and that his name was Toby Tenma."

"Oh…drat! That makes things a little more complicated." Stone rubbed his head. "Much more complicated… At least I know they will be in the Ministry of Science by tomorrow, if not the day after."

"He sure does have a loud stomach, I'll give him that," Heckler growled. "It kept on making noises while we were doing the lessons."

Stone ignored that last part as another black figure appeared. "I don't know why the heck we're doing this anyway," the other person said. "I mean, Astro's human, so he obviously has all the weaknesses a human does."

"You never know, since he used to be a robot," Stone growled. "Now go somewhere else, Atlas. I'm in the middle of an important discussion here!"

"Whatever." Atlas shook his head and disappeared.

Stone gave another growl. "Teens…" he muttered. "Make sure you can try to get some information by tomorrow, alright? But don't make your questions to conspicuous, otherwise you might give yourself away."

"Yes, Sir…er, what does conspicuous mean again?" Heckler asked, but Stone had already hung up. Heckler slouched. _Darn._

* * *

Bright morning sunlight awoke me from my sleep, making me blink open my eyes and squint against the flare of the sun's rays. I sat up and gave a huge yawn, my eyelids drooping heavily. _What a night…!_ I hadn't slept very well last night, but at least I hadn't had any nightmares. I stood up and stretched my limbs, my arms going straight to the sky. I smiled, turning off the alarm that was to wake me up. I hurried downstairs to go eat breakfast, and saw my dad eating at the table. I remembered yesterday with the strange caller, telling me that if I didn't go to the Ministry to be tutored, that they would harm my friends and family. I frowned as the memory swirled around my head. "Dad?" I asked.

"Ah, Astro, you're awake!" Dad turned around to face me. "Have a seat, I need to tell you something."

"Sure…Dad. Um, what is it?" I asked, sitting down in my seat while hungrily digging into the pancakes Orrin laid in front of me.

"I've decided that you're going to be moved to the Ministry of Science to continue your studies," Dad said. "It's much safer there."

I nearly choked on my pancakes. "I—you—um—" I gave another cough.

"Are you alright, son?" Dad asked, concerned.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. No biggie. I-it's just that…" I broke off. "Well, um…"

"Yes?" Dad pressed.

"Well…never mind. It's nothing. It was just a call from Cora and Zane, that's all," I chuckled nervously, playing with my food aimlessly.

"Er…alright, then…" Dad looked at me weirdly before returning to his breakfast.

I let out a slight sigh of relief, eating my pancakes. _That was a close one. I don't want to worry Dad… Then he'll probably put me on the _Surface,_ or something!_ Wild thoughts played in my head, and I frowned.

"Well, we're going to be leaving soon, so go pack your bag and things," Dad instructed, knocking me out of my trance.

"Kay…" I got up from the table and ran back upstairs to my room, grabbing a bag from my closet. I opened my drawers and started stuffing my clothes in there, some t-shirts and jeans, extra socks, etc. I went through my closet and brought out two jackets: my blue and red one.

I hurried out of my room and downstairs, meeting Dad by the door. He smiled at me. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, tightening my grip on my bag. "Yup!"

The doorbell suddenly rang. Orrin went to answer it, and my grouchy tutor stepped inside. "Oh, is he going somewhere?" Mr. Higginson asked gruffly.

"I thought I sent you a message to meet us at the Ministry," Dad said. "Did you not get it?"

"Oh? Oh, oh, you might have." Higginson took out the device from his pocket and began fiddling with it. "Sorry I wasn't, er… I don't use my phone much…"

I held back a laugh, but Dad eyed me with a glare. I instantly shut up. Higginson smiled. "Ah, there it is! Yes, sorry. I'll meet you two there." He turned around and waddled back out of the apartment, the door closing behind him.

I gave a loud sigh. "Of _all_ the tutors, you had to pick him?" I complained.

Dad frowned. "He seemed fine enough when I interviewed him," he said. "Why?"

"He just… He acts like we're in the military, or something," I mumbled, glancing out the window. "Maybe he was, I don't know…" I readjusted my bag on my shoulder and headed out the door with Orrin and Dad following.

"He didn't mention anything about the military when I interviewed him," Dad replied, locking the door behind them as they hurried down the hall to the elevator.

"Well, he sure _acts_ like it anyway." I shrugged, stepping into the elevator. Once we were out of the apartment building, Orrin got into the front seat of the limo and started it up, while Dad and I put our belongings in the trunk. My dad closed the trunk and smiled at me as we got in the backseats of the car. Annnnd we were off!

I suddenly gasped, once we were two minutes away from home. "Wait, Orrin, stop the car!" I yelped. "I forgot my suit!"

Orrin slammed on the brakes and pulled over so cars could pass. Dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought you had everything…"

"I thought I did, too!" I groaned. "I left it on the kitchen table!"

"On the kitchen—" Dad groaned, face-palming. "I _knew_ I saw it somewhere!"

I laughed nervously. "Well…you know… Some things are just plain forgetful…hehe…"

The car turned around and we drove back to the apartment. I told Dad I'd be much quicker if I got it myself, and took the house keys and ran back inside the building.

Little did I know that our apartment had been broken into.

I gasped as the scene lay upon me. The apartment was a complete and total mess. Things were broken, pictures were falling off the walls, there was a hole in the ceiling, and even the water was left running! It was flooding onto the floor! I quickly hurried over and turned off the faucet, grabbing a towel and dabbing at the water puddle on the floor. "Who would _do_ such a thing?!" I muttered as I dabbed. "It was probably Atlas… They must've been—" I broke off, freezing instantly, my eyes wide. "NO!" I whipped up and looked on the kitchen table.

My backpack was gone.

* * *

**A/N:** ._. Well then. That durned Atlas, right? Or was it Atlas? Hmmm *strokes fake beard* If you can guess who it was, I'll give you a cookie. XD Anyways, this story is slowly coming to an end...

You guys: WHAAAAAT!

Me: *flinches* Please don't kill me *cowers* XD Anyway, yeah. Me and Star think the story is ending, and the ending we have planned is pretty epic. So. I hope you guys will stick with it to the end! No, sorry to say there won't be a sequel to this story. It's just this one. Hehe... *anime sweatdrop*

Please review!


	11. Lost And Found

**A/N:** So guys, I got a jooooob, and I've been working for four days now... XD I'm soaking my feet cus they hurt so bad... Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you guessed correctly on who took Astro's suit, then review with such, and yesh. XD I give you cookie.

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**Chapter 11: Lost And Found**

My suit was gone. _Stolen._ I'd torn through the entire apartment searching for it, hoping that maybe it had just gotten caught under something, but it was nowhere to be found. I stood in the middle of the wrecked living room, trying my best to calm down, at the same time completely losing it. "Not good, not good! That stupid, good for nothing excuse for a—"

"Astro?" I heard the front door open and my dad call for me. I heard him give a loud cry of shock as he saw the apartment. I hurried over to the front door, seeing my father's face in complete and utter horror as he looked around the room, hands in his hair. "What the heck happened?!" he shouted.

"I-I think we were robbed," I began, swallowing nervously and looking away slightly. "A-and there's also some…_slightly more_ bad news…"

"Son, I don't think I can _take_ any more bad news right now!" Dad sighed regretfully, still eyeing the apartment.

"My suit's gone," I blurted, bracing for the impact of my father's shout.

But there wasn't any.

I opened my eyes back up—realizing that I had closed them—watching as my dad slowly slid down the wall and onto the floor, disbelief on his face.

"We were only gone for a few moments…" Dad murmured. "This…this is _insane!"_

"Uh…wh-what do we do now?" I asked hesitantly.

Dad sighed. "The only option right now is get to the Ministry. You're going to be put under high guard," he explained, standing back up and brushing himself off. "No outside world until we're absolutely _sure_ you're safe from harm."

"WHAT!" I shouted. "But this means—"

"No friends," he interrupted, finishing my sentence for me. He grabbed a hold of my shoulder and began gently pulling me away from the apartment and out the door. "Come on, Astro. We have to get you to a safe place."

I couldn't help giving out a loud groan, but I followed my father back out of the apartment building and into the limo where Orrin was waiting patiently.

"Hello," he greeted us. "Did you get what you went back for?"

"No," I mumbled.

Orrin blinked, surprised. "Why? Did we already pack—?"

"We've been robbed, Orrin," Dad interrupted him, closing the car door. "Astro's suit is missing."

"NOOOO!" Orrin shouted, waving his arms in the air. "Oh, that's very bad! VERY BAD! It's really, _REALLY—"_

"Orrin!" I interrupted, causing him to blink at me. "This _isn't_ the time to freak out."

"Wha—oh, oh, you're right. I'm sorry." Orrin gulped. "But this is still really—"

"Just get us to the Ministry, please," Dad sighed. "We'll talk about it more there."

"A-alright, Bill," Orrin stammered, starting the limo.

It was very tense and quiet the whole ride to the Ministry of Science. I couldn't help but tap my foot on the floor in front of me anxiously. _I wonder who took my suit?_ I thought, watching the buildings blur by. _It had to have been someone who hates me. Maybe Atlas? Stone?_ I frowned. _But…_

My thoughts were cut off as Dad placed a hand on my shoulder, jogging me back to the present. "We're here, son," he said, getting out of the car.

I blinked in place for a moment, before hurrying out of the car after my dad.

"Good morning, Dr. Tenma, Sir!" the guards greeted my dad as we hurried towards the building.

"Morning," he returned with a nod. "Come inside for a moment, will you?"

I hurried after my dad, along with Orrin and the two guards who had been outside the door. Once inside the building, my dad clapped his hands together loudly, causing everyone in the lobby to turn to us. My face immediately grew hot as embarrassment flooded over me.

"Employees of the Ministry of Science!" he began. "My son is being threatened by malicious forces. Our apartment was just broken into, and so I would like my son—Toby—to be placed under heavy guard as he is tutored here by his tutor. Understood?" He turned to the group of several guards.

"Yes, Dr. Tenma, Sir!" the guards all said at once, saluting him.

Dad turned back to me. "I want you to go upstairs and go to my office. The tutor should be waiting around here somewhere… When I find him, I'll direct him to you." I nodded, and he turned back to the guards. "Follow Toby everywhere, understood?"

One of them raised a finger. "Does this include the bathroom, Sir?"

"Yes, even the bathroom!" he nearly snapped.

I flinched. _That's disgusting…_ I thought to myself, but nonetheless, began my way towards the elevator, the guards trailing after me.

* * *

**~Earlier that day… **

Reno didn't know what to think of Toby. Last time they had seen each other at the park, things had gotten really weird… His friends had kept calling him _Astro…_

_Maybe it's because he liked that name?_ Reno thought to himself. Whatever the case may be, he felt like they'd gotten off on the wrong foot. He wanted to apologize to him after that had happened.

A short, stout man hurried through the apartment lobby, holding onto the top of his head. Reno turned and watched as he ran off and out of the doors with a frown. _Who was that?_ he wondered.

Shrugging, Reno turned back around to go up to the front desk of the lobby. "Hello, Sir!" the lobbyist greeted. "How may I help you today?"

Reno thought for a moment. "Um…well, could you tell me where Toby Tenma's apartment is, please?"

"Sure!" she giggled, checking her holopad. "He's on the eleventh floor, apartment 863."

"Thanks!" Reno said, smiling and heading for the elevator.

"Welcome!" she called after him.

Reno hurried up the elevator to the eleventh floor, looking for apartment number 863. Luckily for him, it was the only apartment on that floor. He certainly hadn't expected the door to be wide open, or the inside of the apartment to be totally ruined. "What!" Reno exclaimed, looking around at the mess in front of him, his eyes wide. "What happened?!" He hurried into the room, carefully stepping over things that were on the floor while looking all over. "Hello?" he called. "Anyone home? Toby?!"

There was no answer. Reno scratched the back of his head, worried. "I wonder…who could have—oh?" He'd spotted a red and black backpack laying in a large puddle the sink was making. He picked it up, shaking it a little to get rid of the water. "Toby's backpack?" Reno looked around. "He might still be here!" He looked around wildly, searching for any signs of life in the ruined apartment.

His finger suddenly found an indentation on the shoulder of the backpack, making a beeping noise. Reno blinked, looking down. "Huh?"

Suddenly, the backpack…morphed? Around him, too! "AHH!" Reno screamed, trying to cover himself—but since the backpack was literally covering him, it wasn't possible. He blinked open his eyes after a few moments. In front of his face was a blue screen with all sorts of digital coding on it. "Whoa!" Reno exclaimed with a smile. Then, he frowned. _Wait, this is…Toby's backpack… And it has…a suit in it…_ His eyes widened. "This is _COBALT?!"_ he shouted with excitement. "Toby is _COBALT?!_ Awesome!"

The suit let off another slight beeping noise, a bright blue box surrounding a module that had rockets on it. 'Flight mode activated', it read. "Oh cr—AAAAAAAAP!" Reno screamed as he blasted upwards, ramming through the ceiling of the apartment. Reno shot up into the sky, going higher and higher, screaming the whole way. "THISS WAAAAASN'T SUPPOSSSED TOOOO HAAAAAAAPPENNNNN!" he screamed, eyes peeled back as far as they could go. "MAAAAAAAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOP!" Reno shouted, flying higher and higher into the sky. Suddenly, as if on command, the rockets shut off. He breathed a sigh of relief, but eyes widening once more as he began falling. "AHH! I CHANGE MY MINNNND!" he screamed, activating the rockets again.

He slowed to a wobbly hover in the air, his arms swinging in circles to keep himself balanced. "Okay…" he began. "This is weird…but awesome." He looked around. "I gotta get this back to Toby, though…er…" He frowned, noticing that he was surrounded only by clouds and air. "Umm…WHERE AM I?!" he shouted.

* * *

I sighed, placing the palm of my hand on my cheek, tapping the pencil on the desk as I worked on my math homework. Mr. Higginson sat next to me, not even paying any attention—daydreaming, most likely. I glanced out the frosted glass on my dad's door, seeing the shapes of the guards as they stood outside, weapons in hand.

"So, er…Toby," Higginson suddenly said. I jerked my head back to my book, realizing I'd been wandering off in my thoughts. "You sad about what happened to Astro Boy?"

His question took me completely by surprise. "Uh…" I blinked, glancing at him. "I, er… I guess. I mean…I didn't really know him…so not really…"

"Oh," Higginson grunted. "Er…hmm…" I saw him rubbing his chin, as if he were trying to think of something else to ask me. "Do you wish he were still alive?"

Another random question. "I…don't know…?" I shrugged. "I mean, uh…maybe? Just to see what he was like…why?"

"No reason, no reason," Higginson said. "Have you met that one new robot protector…um…what's his name again? Cobert, was it?"

"Cobalt."

"Cobalt, that's right. Do you like him?"

"I…guess?" I raised my eyebrow, wondering why he was so interested in this subject. "I mean, I haven't really met _him_ either, but… I think he's cool and all."

"Oh, that's nice," Higginson replied.

I rose an eyebrow again. "Um…why all the questions about—?"

"Do your work now, kid," he grunted, pushing me—slightly too hard—back towards the holopad on my dad's desk. I frowned in his direction and began working on the problems some more.

_This has definitely got me…confused…_ I thought, stealing glances at him out of the corner of my eye. I frowned deeper, tapping the pencil on the desk as my thoughts began churning to the surface. _I mean, he's _clearly_ obsessed with the military—he's very strict, somewhat rude… Even the way he _walks_ kind of seems military…ish._ I let a humming noise escape my throat.

"Stumped?" he asked.

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning to face him again. "Huh?" I asked. "Oh, no, no. I'm not. I was just thinking."

"About what?" he grunted.

_That you're pretty pushy!_ I thought, wanting to blurt it out as I frowned at him again. "Nothing…" I muttered, continuing silently with my work.

* * *

Three hours. Reno had been flying around completely lost for three. Freaking. HOURS! He had no idea where he was. About a dozen or so times, he had swooped down to see where he was, but all he _could_ see were piles of junk strewn everywhere. He was lost over the Surface.

_I sure wish I knew where I was,_ he thought with a sigh. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him and he smiled. _This thing should _definitely_ have GPS!_ He frowned. _Now…how do I activate it…?_

"Uh… A-activate GPS system!" Reno said in a shaky voice. Bright blue words appeared on the screen, saying, 'GPS system activated'. Reno was about to pump his fist in joy when suddenly, his rockets spluttered.

'WARNING! WARNING!' another message flashed across the screen. 'ENERGY DEPLETED! ENERGY DEPLETED! PLEASE SEE MANUAL!'

"What?!" Reno cried. "But—" He had no time to finish the sentence before his rockets gave out from underneath him, and he fell to the polluted Surface below. "AHHH!" he screamed, falling fast through the puffy white clouds. Reno couldn't help but look down, watching the junk below getting closer and closer. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOOOMMEE!" he cried as he fell.

'ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED!' the suit flashed in front of his eyes.

"Huh?" Reno blurted. Suddenly, an orange and black blob knocked him out of the sky, sending him hurtling off his vertical path and causing him to tunnel a gorge through the Surface junk. Reno groaned, lifting his head and rubbing it—only to realize he couldn't actually touch his head. _Tough luck…_ he thought, blinking up in front of him. He flinched as the orange and black blob from before landed heavily in front of him, red electricity flowing around him.

"Well, well!" the thing—a robot—chuckled, crossing his arms. "Looks like we're having a bit of trouble flying today?"

Reno glanced up at the robot, frowning. "Who the heck—or what the heck—are you?" he growled, trying to sit up.

The robot's jaw dropped, eyes widening. "Wait…you're not…" He unfolded his arms and pointed at Reno. "Who the heck are _you?!"_

"Tell me who _you_ are _first!"_ Reno demanded.

"Not until _you_ tell _me—"_ He broke off with a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Not playing this game…" he muttered, looking back up. "Look, just tell me who you are, okay?"

"I'm, uh…Cobalt!" Reno lied, chuckling slightly. He never really lied before, and he didn't think this robot was buying it.

"Suuure, right. Okay, kid, party's over," the robot growled.

Before Reno could act, the robot leaned down and pressed something on Reno's chest, and suddenly he was in his normal clothes, the suit turning back into the backpack that it had been before. The robot held the pack by the strap, swinging it from his forefinger. "One more time," he said coldly. "Who. Are. You?"

"Eheheh…" Reno chuckled nervously. "Um…m-my name's Reno?" he said, voice cracking slightly.

The robot frowned. "Okay then, Reno. Why do you have Astro's suit?"

"Astro?" he echoed in confusion. "No, no, no. You've got it wrong. That's _Toby's_ backpack."

The robot rolled his eyes. "Astro, Toby—Toby, Astro. They're the _same person,_ idiot!" he growled. "Now…_why_ do you have this?!"

"Uh…I-I accidentally…put it on…?" Reno stammered. "When I was in Toby's apartment, which was ransacked—wait… What do you mean Toby and Astro are the same person?"

The robot let out a loud, frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Astro is really Toby, who wished he was human on some stupid, freaky comet, and now he's human!"

"That…explains a lot, actually," Reno murmured.

"Now…why are you here?"

Reno shrugged. "Like I said, I accidentally put it on, and I kinda got lost…"

A cold smile flew onto the robot's face. "I can take you back to Metro."

"You can?" Reno gasped. "Please! Take me back!"

"On _one_ condition…"

Reno froze, frowning. "…What is it?" he asked slowly.

He smiled. "Oh, nothing…" he chuckled. "This backpack here? You see this?" Reno nodded, and he continued. "It's mine now." He opened his mouth to complain, but the robot put his finger up. "Ah-ah-ah!" he laughed. "No complaining, otherwise you're stuck here, buddy!"

Reno clamped his mouth shut, gulping. _What do I do?_ he thought. _If I agree to go back, Toby's suit will be in the hands of some crazy robot guy!_ He frowned. _And what the heck does he mean Astro turned into a human?_

He sighed, looking down at the ground. "No," he said.

The robot's eyes narrowed. "Well, then… I guess you're stuck here, aren't ya?" He turned around and hopped into the air, laughing maniacally on his way towards a small, floating blob in the distance.

Reno slumped to the ground in defeat. _What have I _done?!

* * *

I could hardly concentrate on my studies that day. My mind kept wandering back to my apartment, thinking over the carnage that I had seen. _It _had_ to have been Atlas,_ I thought. _And he stole my backpack, so I would be vulnerable…_ I glanced over at Mr. Higginson, who was currently looking at a book. I suppressed a sigh, glancing at the clock. My body suddenly froze. There was a calendar next to the clock…and the date…the_ date…_

There was a sudden crashing noise to my right from outside the door. I whipped my head towards the noise, cold sweat dripping down my back. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, please, no!_ I thought, panicked.

I stood up hurriedly, taking a few steps away from the door, my eyes wide. Mr. Higginson looked up from his book. "Sit back down," he ordered.

"D-don't you hear that?" I stammered, pointing a shaky finger at the door. He looked towards it. Behind the frosted glass, I could see several shapes, along with the tint of red and orange. _NONONONONO! _I thought, wincing and flinching back as the door was kicked in.

"A-_ha!_ I found you, Astro Boy!" he laughed. "And lookie what I've got!" He took a backpack out from behind his back, twirling it on his finger.

I blinked, taking in the scene. Atlas looked a lot different. He had way more armor, and he had black tints along the edges of his face. I also noticed that the backpack he was swinging was mine. "Give that back!" I shouted, still terrified.

"Or _what?"_ he hissed. "You're gonna call your daddy in here to protect you?" He looked to the left of him, finally noticing my tutor in the room. "What are _you_ doing here, Heckler?"

_HECKLER?!_ I thought, staring incredulously at the man in front of me. Of course! _That's_ why I had recognized him! He was Stone's general!

Atlas seemed amused by my reaction, but didn't dwell on it. "So…_Astro…"_ he began, walking closer to me as I backed up. "Let's say we finish this, hmm? End it once and for all? Oh, but" —he held up the backpack with his hand— "I'm afraid you won't be needing this!" He gave a cold laugh, throwing the backpack with a powerful arm, so that it went through the window in the hallway and into the street below.

I gulped, but clenched my fists, my arms trembling. "This isn't a very fair fight…" I mumbled angrily, my eyes burning with hatred.

He just laughed. "Who says it was? Or was ever gonna be?" He smirked coldly at me, and then frowned, turning back to Higginson—er…Heckler. "Get the crap outta here, nitwit!" he growled.

Heckler—in a hurry—ran out of the office, accidentally dropping his wig off his head in the process. If this were any other time, I would've laughed at that, but it wasn't, so I didn't laugh.

Atlas started walking towards me again, and quick as a flash—before I could react—he had me by the neck. I cried out, clinging onto his arm as he lifted me off my feet. "Say goodbye, Astro," he hissed. _"Your time is UP!"_

Atlas swung his arm around, throwing me through the wall of the room and out into the hallway. I groaned in pain and coughed as the dust settled. He charged at me again, picked me up quickly, and threw me straight through the window and out into the air. As soon as I fell, I caught a quick glimpse of Atlas coming after me with his rockets, as well as my dad watching me through the window with wide eyes, his hands planted up against the glass.

I closed my eyes as I felt Atlas grab me around the waist, zooming straight for the ground at high velocity.

This was the end. The end of my life.

I was going to die.

* * *

**A/N:** Nuuuuuuu! ;n; don't diiiie. XD anyway, plz leave reviews. unu


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